


Postapocalyptica

by proser132



Series: It Tolls For Thee [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Fantasy, Horror Elements, M/M, Magic, Post-Apocalypse, Road Trip from Hell, Science Fiction, canon appearances abound, eventually, sort of, you'll see why - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 112,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5010973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proser132/pseuds/proser132
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world ended, it was not with a bang, nor with a whimper. </p>
<p>In fact, even though it was called the End, there was a healthy debate as to whether it was an End at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the dumbest thing I've ever done. And I'm the dummy who thought that 'swimming in January in Lake Champlain!' was a great idea.
> 
> Whether or not I enjoyed it is irrelevant.
> 
> Some notes:  
> \- This contains a pretty eclectic fusion of book-canon and movie-canon, for reasons that will be revealed as time passes.  
> \- Jack and Nightlight are separate people here (see above).  
> \- Everyone keeps to their movie-canon appearance save Sandy (bc being made out of sand does not a human make) and Katherine & Nightlight (because they didn't have a movie appearance).  
> \- Aster is a touch of an unreliable narrator (and yeah, yet another thing narrated from Aster's POV)
> 
> Also, I'm approximately 17 chapters ahead at all times, so what you're reading is pretty set in stone; grammar corrections and such are still encouraged, though.
> 
> All right, enough of my rambling. Let's get this shindig off the ground.

**CHAPTER 1**

When the world ended, it was not with a bang, nor with a whimper. In fact, even though it was called the End, there was a healthy debate as to whether it was an End at all.

To everyone's surprise, it was nothing anyone had done, or anything they could have prevented. For so long, since the idea of an “apocalypse” began germinating in human minds, the End had been very human in nature. It was gods fighting, it was sickness, it was hellfire and rising oceans and nuclear bombs and warfare and an endless list that they thought maybe they could stave off. Hell, even the thoughts of asteroids or comets striking the earth had an off-switch they'd been working on, re-directive charges and the like. Everything had something they could do about it.

When the End came, it was impersonal and distant. A gamma burst, a flare of radiation some distant star had shat out, and it had unfortunately expelled itself in the direction of Earth. No gods. No sickness (not initially). Nothing they could cure and nothing they could stop. It was the end of the world they knew, and there was no other way for it to end.

In many ways, the world was fortunate; it was the weakest possible gamma burst to have travelled the cosmic distance it had and still cause damage. Millions died in the initial strike, the radiation slicing a swathe through the wide face of the Pacific – another stroke of luck, though certainly not for the people living there. That the earth faced the gamma burst ocean-side was a gift for the rest, and gave them hours to steady themselves.

No one knew the count of species lost, their delicate ecosystems nuked to hell, and the oceans' water was irreparably irradiated. Those who had them descended into nuclear shelters, and those who did not remained on the surface. It didn't matter. The radiation was in the air, and shot through the earth, and flooded the waterways. Iodine became more expensive than any could afford, and was hoarded like the treasure it was, until they realised the amount necessary to remain healthy would poison them as assuredly as the radiation would.

Sickness took many, radiation twisting their bodies and leaving unsettling corpses in its wake. Those who didn't die of radiation often fell foul of starvation and thirst, heat-stroke and cold, disease and petty squabbling. Soon, of the nine or so billion that called the planet home, less than seven hundred million remained. Less than fifteen percent of all the lives on earth, scattered to all the winds and struggling to survive.

Then, something curious happened.

None could say where it had come from, or what caused it; the surviving scientists were baffled in their labs, and the raving religious fanatics (of which there were a disconcerting number) declared it a miracle. Perhaps it was the earth herself, refusing to be murdered by such a distant star and pouring an ancient life force into the human race. Or the gentle moon, looking down on the planet it orbited and giving it some of the magic so many had attributed to it over the years.

Nevertheless, as the years passed and humanity carried on, the children changed.

It didn't matter if they were newly born or almost a decade old. Every child who had not yet gone through puberty – every single one – developed some kind of power, for lack of better word. Something that defied scientific understanding, and there were endless scientific inquiries over the years. Some children found themselves floating off the ground, and some found they could breathe water (much to their caretakers' horror). Some could read minds with a look, or emotions with a touch. Some had even stranger powers, things less well defined, something that even scientists were starting to call magic. The creation of water or fire, light and shadow, food and drink were present, strange though they were.

The children grew, and had children of their own, and their powers mingled in strange ways. Within three generations, things were stable again on the planet, or at least as stable as they could be with most of the world's original population dead and the remainder changed into something new. It was a living, many said as the first children of the fourth generation began to be born, and despite the strangeness and the ruin around them, humans have ever been an adaptable sort. Life went on. The planet healed. All was well.

That would not remain true for very long.

  
  


Wiping sweat from his brow and leaving a streak of dark brown mud behind, Aster leaned back and surveyed the field. A soft May wind blew across the land, carrying with it the scent of dust and dead forests from the west. It was not the most pleasant scent to ever grace Aster's nose, but it was certainly a welcome reprieve from the afternoon heat.

Swaying in the field stood young shoots of barley, a good harvest if it all survived. Some days it was unclear whether it would; the local weather witch had promised a gentle summer, but since he was as reliable as a net full of holes, Aster didn't much intend to trust Phil's word. Even if the weather went pear-shaped, though, it wouldn't be a hard fix.

The wind carried with her a faint tinkling sound, like distant icicles clinking together, and Aster's ears twitched forward. He was one of the stranger mutts around, given his wild appearance: tall rabbit ears and a thick pelt of grey fur, sharp incisors and strong legs built for leaping. Not many people looked like he did in these parts, but at least he felt he looked striking, and not straight ugly like some of the mutts with skin of stone or scales like fish. E. Aster Bunnymund was a bizarre mutt, true, but a proud one, with his gift of speed (his father's contribution) and plant growth (his mother's.) He was useful, which was much more important than looking entirely human, in his opinion.

'I'll take the blighter's message,' he said to the breeze, which tinkled again in acceptance and then burst into chatter, as if the message-sender stood beside him.

'Bunny, dear, we have a problem,' Toothiana's voice said to his surprise, sounding calm despite the clear sound of bustle. 'We've run out of feverfew, and the Bennets' girl's temperature is still high.'

Tooth was a friend, and a good one to have here in the small town of Riverfield. She was the town's only doctor, and a fellow animutt like himself, absolutely covered in jewel-bright feathers, with huge eyes and functional wings. She'd come to town one day with her seven daughters and set up the only hospital for hundreds of miles. No one knew where she came from, why she had seven daughters all with her exact powers, and frankly? Nobody cared. She was a miracle, and for reasons beyond Aster's understanding, she adored him.

'How much do ye need?' Aster asked, the little breeze following him as he trotted over to the herb garden and its little shed. 'I've got maybe twelve ounces in storage.'

'Two or three would last us a while, that would be fantastic.' Tooth sighed. 'You're absolutely the best, Bunny, I don't know what I'd do without you.'

'Probably be a better gardener,' Aster said, and she laughed brightly. 'I'll have it there in twenty. Tell Sophie I'll be there soon.'

'Need a lift?' said a new voice, and Aster scowled.

'No, Frostbite, I do not need a lift,' he said sharply. 'The last time ye tried that little stunt I was scared to leave me house for a month.'

'Heights aren't that bad, Bunny,' Jack Frost said cheerfully, his voice echoing in the shed Aster ducked into. 'Seriously, I could have you here so fast you won't even notice.'

'Fliers,' Aster huffed, measuring out three ounces of powdered feverfew into a glass bottle. 'Can't respect having two feet on the ground like the normal folk.'

'You're just jealous.'

'Of what, falling to me death on a regular basis? No, thanks.'

'You'd only fall to your death the once,' Jack argued, and Aster laughed a bit.

'Ye're being literal now just to annoy me, I know it,' Aster said back, and tucked the bottle safely into a padded pouch. He stuck that in one of the pockets of his bandoleer, and locked the shed behind him. 'Don't ye have some other messages to carry? Can't ye leave an old man be?'

'Please, thirty isn't old,' Jack said. The breeze followed Aster as he began the not inconsiderable run to town; it would have taken a walking man something close to three or four hours, but Aster could run it in forty minutes at an easy pace. He'd made it under five when sprinting full out. 'You whine like an old man, though.'

'Old men don't whine, we gripe,' Aster retorted, loping down the dirt road. He liked living outside the town, for all that it wasn't very safe. He was more than a match for a small band of raiders, which was about all that could be mustered these days, and he liked his privacy. Besides, it was the only way to grow as much food as the town needed, to have at least two square miles worth of fields. In the middle of summer and in late fall, the whole town trudged out to help with the communal harvest, which was about as much interpersonal interaction as Aster could take in a year. 'And don't change the subject, I know ye can only carry on one convo at a time on the wind, ye've got a job to do.'

'It's downtime, Bunny, I'll let it go if someone needs me,' Jack said with a nearly audible eye roll as Aster passed a downed tree. He noted its location so that he could drag it home when he returned. It was always good to start stocking wood early for the winter.

'Or ye'll just fly it in person,' Aster said, bypassing a small bridge entirely by leaping across the creek trickling away from the main river.

'Please, as if I want to talk to you that badly.'

'Ye've done it before.'

'You were shouting. I thought it would be rude to cut it off then.'

'Of course I was shouting, ye'd iced over me strawberry crop!'

'You fixed it!'

'That's not the point, ye raging loony,' Aster said, jumping into the tall pines and leaping from tree to tree. It was faster than following the road, as it swung two or three miles out of the way to connect to a different road. 'The point is that ye nearly destroyed six years worth of work.'

'Like I could kill any plant you grow,' Jack said, and Aster ignored the little flare of pride at his words.

'Flattery will get ye nowhere, Jack.'

'Flattery gets me everywhere, Bun-Bun,' Jack snarked back as the town came into view. 'It just doesn't work on you because you have the personality of a slug.'

'That is an insult to slugs everywhere,' Aster said with a self-deprecating chuckle. He knew he could be abrasive. Probably the true reason why he lived ten miles out of town, if he thought about it. 'I'm almost there, take yer wind back.'

'She likes you, Bunny,' Jack said as Aster came up to the front entrance of the hospital. 'She won't come back until she's ready.' Jack tilted his head back and grinned sunnily. 'At least one of us likes you, right?' He squinted. 'You've got mud on your face.'

'Shut yer mouth, Frostbite, before ye cark it,' Aster said, both wiping ineffectually at his brow and elbowing the other man in the side at once.

Jack feigned an injury much greater than Aster's pointy elbows could have dealt, clutching his side dramatically as Tooth opened the door. 'Abuse! Battery! Assault!'

'I'm sure you deserved it,' Tooth said serenely, and ignored Jack's squawking. 'Thanks for coming, Bunny.'

'She's apples, Tooth,' Aster said, passing over the bottle. 'How's the anklebiter?'

'Her fever's about to break,' Tooth said, fluttering a little higher; she didn't often walk, in Aster's experience, but she kept (for the most part) within a few feet of the ground. Much better than Jack, who could be found literally among the clouds. 'Just a nasty flu. One of my girls almost caught it, but we nipped it right in the bud. Your goldenrod tea does wonders to prevent illness.'

'Me dam's recipe,' Aster shrugged. 'I'm sure she'd've appreciated the compliment.'

'Well, thank you, again,' Tooth said, hugging him quickly. 'I best get this to Sophie.'

'See ye at the next town meeting,' Aster said, returning the hug, and Tooth flew back into the hospital. It was a wide house with three floors, the second largest building in the town, and Tooth kept it in impeccable order.

Aster turned to go, and Jack fell in step beside him, after a fashion; he floated companionably beside Aster, anyway, which was his equivalent. 'How have you been?' Jack asked, nudging Aster with his elbow in a much less violent imitation of Aster's greeting. 'It's been a few weeks since you were in town.'

'The same as the last time ye asked me,' Aster said. 'Which was yesterday. Don't act as though ye don't bug me whenever ye've got a chance, ye dero.'

'You know you live in Normerica, right?' Jack asked, flipping over and following Aster lazily as they made their way through the town. 'And you still talk like you're fresh off the boat.'

'Can't help where ye're born, Frostbite,' Aster said with a shrug. Honestly, he'd lived in Riverfield most of his life, his parents having hopped the sea when he was only a kit, but they'd always spoken the same, and it was impossible to kick the habit now. 'And I've been living here longer than ye've been alive, so watch it.'

'You know North's like almost seventy, right?' Jack asked, not looking where they were going. 'If anyone's old, it's him –'

'Ach, such way to talk about your grandfather!' Came North's great booming voice, and Jack nearly fell out of the air. Aster snickered as Nicholas St. North stomped over, looking displeased. 'I am not old! I am full of vitality! Energy of youth wasted on young? Pah! I have much energy, I needn't be young!'

'No one was saying that – I wasn't saying that,' Jack protested, looking over at Aster pleadingly; Aster gave no ground, only cocking an eyebrow at him. 'Was I saying that, Bunny? I was most definitely not saying that.'

'I dunno,' Aster said, scratching his chin. 'Might've been taken that way, mate, from what I'm seeing.'

'Indeed, was taken that way!' Nick said, grabbing Jack by the shoulder and shaking him. 'I am very insulted! What would your mother say, she heard you say such things about her beloved father-in-law?'

'P-p-probab-bly n-nothing,' Jack said through the shaking. 'She'd-d-d b-be laughing!'

'That is true,' Nick admitted, and released his grandson.

Aster watched all of this with a barely suppressed grin. Nick's relationship with his grandson was a pleasure to watch, mostly because it was nice to see someone else giving the scamp a hard time. The boy had arrived eight years ago, all of twelve and angry as hell, while his mother and sister headed out west to one of the settlements on the coast of Aztlan. His grandfather had immediately put his foot down, setting the boy to work as a message carrier for his living, and while the fights had been legendary, the discipline had done Jack good. Two years ago, the school had caught fire, and it was only Jack's ice creation and Nick's ice manipulation that had saved the rest of the town.

Nick had been a friend of Aster's parents, as well, and while Aster's memories of his childhood were fuzzy (he barely remembered anything from Australia save a wide expanse of red earth), Nick featured prominently in much of the early memories of Riverfield.

'Ah, Bunny, is good to see you,' Nick said with a wide smile. 'How comes the farm?'

'Healthy as she can be,' Aster answered, then rolled his eyes. 'She'll be fine if Phil will decide whether he's going to be right this year or not.'

'He does best he can,' Nick chided, but his eyes were twinkling. 'I will keep you posted. My no-good grandson is always chattering to you, so maybe he will finally have important something to say at last!'

'Thanks, North,' Jack grumbled. 'And I don't talk to him that much.'

'Every day is more than our Bunny talks to anyone else,' Nick said with great cheer, and Aster shrugged, even as the bridge of his nose went a little red; it was true, after all. If he looked forward to the quick chats, if he found Jack's company less grating that most, then that was his business, and he saw no point to boosting the brat's already ridiculously oversized ego.

'I should be heading back,' Aster said. 'I've still got weeding to do around the cucumbers. Should have a good haul come August.'

'Even if it is wet?'

'No worries there,' Aster agreed. 'The barley is what ye should be worried about.'

'As if,' Jack said with a bit of a snort. 'There's not much that you can't fix.'

'Well,' Aster said, shuffling a bit. Jack's praise was a little much for him, the pride and the pleasure embarrassing in his chest. 'I suppose.'

'Jack is right!' Nick said, and clapped Aster's shoulder. 'I leave it to your capable hands, my friend. You are coming to town meeting next week, yes?'

'Course I am,' Aster huffed. 'They only come around three times a year, it's not like it's any fur off my nose.'

Jack muttered something that Aster didn't catch, but sounded sort of like 'that'd be a shame', which made no sense, so he ignored it.

'Then I will not keep you!' Nick boomed. 'I look forward to seeing you again!' he then crossed the street and entered a shop, chatting to the shopkeeper enthusiastically.

'What does he even _do_ all day?' Jack groused, floating on his stomach again and glaring in Nick's direction.

'He's a good mayor,' Aster said. 'Pays attention to people. More than can be said for ye, brat.'

'Oh, shut up,' Jack said, laughing. 'But man, you want to talk about sounding fresh off the boat. He's never lost that accent, I guess.'

'What's with ye and accents today? Maybe yers is the shonky one,' Aster pointed out as the buildings began to thin out and the road to his farm began to turn from packed gravel to dirt.

'Nah, I'm normal. All of you are the weirdos,' Jack teased, pulling up to a stop. 'I'll catch you later, I'm supposed to meet Sandy in a bit.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah, he wants to study the ice stuff again,' Jack said with a snort. 'Thinks he can get me to just make water, instead. Can't turn the old geezer down.'

'Ye be nice to him, now,' Aster said, putting his hands on his hips. 'He's old, but he can kick yer ass twice over.'

'I know, I know,' Jack said, rolling his eyes. 'Hey, can I come visit after the town meeting?'

Aster blinked, his ears swivelling up to attention. 'Why?'

'I just want to get out of town,' Jack said, rubbing the back of his head and messing up the already messy white hair. 'Normally I can just sneak out at night, but I want a few days where I can just wander.'

Aster understood the feeling. The town felt claustrophobic to him, too, if he spent too long among the buildings and streets, and he always felt best when he was among the trees and the fields. He'd just never known Jack had the same urges. 'I thought ye liked the town,' he ventured, and Jack laughed.

'God, no! I mean, I like the people, and stuff, but I hate being inside,' he explained, blue eyes lighting up as he did so. 'It's so much better to be out in the wind and the clouds, to sit in trees and lie in grass. I miss the way it was when I was a kid, I guess.' He shrugged. 'You don't have to say yes, though. I get that you like your privacy.'

'No, ye don't, or ye wouldn't message me so often,' Aster chuckled. Jack looked a bit crestfallen, until Aster reached out to punch him gently and say, 'I figure three or four days won't kill me. Ye should tell Nick, though.'

'Really? Thanks, Aster,' Jack said, grinning luminously. 'I'd hug you, if you wouldn't punch me for real.'

Aster suppressed a twitch at the idea of Jack wrapped in his arms, and instead shuddered theatrically. 'Every man's got his boundaries,' he said, and Jack laughed.

'I know, I know. See you later, Bun-bun,' he said with a wave, and took off, rushing into the sky with a speed that was impressive, even to someone like Aster.

Shaking his head, Aster took off for home. A tree waited for him, and it would be a heavy load, if lighter than his thoughts.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo this is the first chapter posted today, out of three. I'll save my gushing for the third one - for now, enjoy your surprise triple dose of these two flailing idiots.

**CHAPTER 2**

  
  


The tinkling came early the next morning, when Aster was wrist deep in the turnips, and he rolled his eyes so hard it hurt.

'I'll take it,' he said to the wind, then, before Jack could speak, he added, 'I didn't even know ye got up this early, Frostbite.'

'I do when something bad happens,' Jack said back, sounding troubled, and Aster sat back on his haunches.

'What's going on?'

'There was a raid earlier,' and Aster tensed at the news. 'They got through. Took some of the food from storage. No one got hurt, but they took enough that we'll be a little tight this winter. Might need to dip into the emergency stores.'

Aster swore. 'Pig's arse we will,' he said, standing and shaking dirt from his paw-like hands. 'What'd they get into, the wheat?'

'Some of that, some of the root vegetables, and a lot of the dried meat,' Jack said, and Aster swore again. 'I know,' Jack said, commiserating. 'We'll do what we can to make up the difference with the meat. North said to ask, and I hate to, but –'

'She'll be apples, Frostbite, I can speed some of these up,' Aster shrugged, though he knew Jack couldn't see it. 'Can ye get some people out here to help harvest it, though? I'm going to be out of it.'

'I hate asking you to do this,' Jack snarled vehemently, and Aster flinched, startled. 'Like, using it to heal frost damage is fine, but I know it's not good for you to force growth.'

'It's not forcing, Jack,' Aster said soothingly. 'I'll just be tired a few days, that's all.'

'It's still awful.'

'Ye know it's only how  _many_ plants I'm speeding up, right? It's not killing me, to make me plants grow faster,' Aster said. He stalked over towards the field of young barley. 'I'll get the barley ready, and the potatoes will be done by the time ye lot get here.'

'If I find you unconscious in the dirt again –'

'Tooth'll patch me right, she always does,' Aster argued, annoyed. 'Will ye leave it be, Frostbite? We can't afford the food loss, ye know that.'

'I hate it,' Jack said quietly. 'You shouldn't have to.'

'Well, tell that to the raiders,' Aster said. 'Send one of the fliers over to keep watch, just in case they're still skulking around. I should be awake, but I won't be at full strength.'

'Got it,' Jack said, and relayed the information to someone on his side – North, from the sound of the rumbling. 'Take it easy, Aster.'

'Ye got it, Jack,' Aster said, and the wind tinkled again as she ended the conversation.

He faced the barley field and sighed. Jack wasn't wrong: affecting this many plants at a time, and affecting them so severely, was very difficult. Aster had kept the fact that it was not only exhausting, but painful, to himself though. As far as anyone knew, it was just a tiring job, and that was the way it would remain. He hardly needed Tooth buzzing around him constantly, or Sandy's glowering looks, or Jack's fretting – for such a carefree bloke, he sure worried like a clucky dam.

Aster crouched down and dug his paws into the earth, burying them deep.

'Fucking raiders,' he muttered under his breath, and pulled.

He'd never been able to explain just how this power worked aloud; his dam had known innately, and everyone else just seemed confused. There was something alive in the earth, deep beneath, coursing green like a river and never ceasing. He could take little bits of it up, pulling until the earth was saturated with it, and then he could work with it. In fact, he kept a thin trickle near the surface at all times, and it kept his plants healthy and vibrant.

But the pulling  _hurt_ with how much he needed now, and he strained, all of his muscles pulled taut. Like hauling hundreds of gallons of water at once, all by himself.

Soon he had enough of the earthblood, of the life magic, for what he needed to do. He let go of the rest, and it sank back down to the endless current below, which pulsed in greeting. He'd never been able to explain that, either. The consciousness of the earth.

Now, he sent trickles of the magic to the roots of each barley plant, climbing up the stalk, and poured months of growth into them within a few minutes. The heads grew heavy and a lustrous brown, the leaves fanned wide, and they bobbed in the May winds like it was August.

He directed the rest of the magic to the field of potatoes beside it, swelling the tubers to an impressive size before the magic ran out.

Breathing hard, he sat back, absently shaking dirt from his paws. His whole body ached, and it was a struggle to stand, but at least he was still conscious. He hadn't liked being found face-down in the dirt any more than Jack had liked finding him.

'Aster!'

Aster jerked, ears swivelling over, and he turned;  _speak of the devil_ , he thought.

Jack sped over, hair askew and eyes wide as he tumbled to a stop. 'Are you okay?' he demanded, ignoring the field of barley and green, flowering potato plants. 'You're not hurt?'

'Now why would I be hurt, Frostbite?' Aster said, ignoring the way his muscles throbbed. 'I'm right as rain, don't ye worry. Are the others coming?'

'They've got the carts and horses,' Jack said, waving a hand as if it was unimportant. 'Give them an hour and a half. I went ahead.'

'I can see that, ye gumby,' Aster huffed. 'I'm fine, ye'd think I was on death's doorstep, the way ye yabber on about it.'

'Shut up, Bunny,' Jack said, clearly annoyed. 'Come on, let's get you to bed, can't have the old man falling asleep in the radishes.'

'The radishes are way over there,' Aster argued, sounding a bit weaker than he meant to, as he was letting Jack herd him towards his house.

'Now who's being literal?' Jack asked, but it was rhetorical.

Aster ducked under the doorway into the house; it was built like the house his parents had owned in Australia, single-storied and sprawling, and buried in the earth to create a little hillock. His parents had built it when they'd come over, and though he was taller than either of them had been and so had to duck through all the doorways, he'd never change it. It, and the farm, were all he had left of them.

'Wow, I expected it to be dark,' Jack said, sounding surprised.

'Why? Ye've got eyes, ye can see I have windows.'

'It's underground, Bunny, forgive me for thinking it might possibly be kind of dim in here,' Jack said, and shoved Aster none-too-gently. 'Go, find your bed, you look like a hot mess. I'll keep watch.'

'Strewth, ye know how to compliment a bloke,' Aster complained, but his body hurt, and his bed sounded wonderful.

'Shut up, go to bed,' Jack ordered.

'Whatever ye say, Jack,' Aster said, and made his way deeper into the house. He crawled into bed, ignoring the dirt that stained the sheets as he did so, and fell into a dark, dreamless sleep.

  
  


'Hey, Bunny? Aster, wake up.'

Aster refused to open his eyes, loath to relinquish his sleep, but the afternoon sunlight was suddenly strong against his eyelids, and there was no helping that he was awake now.

He rolled over towards whoever was shaking his shoulder, and grunted a wordless question, his face buried in a pillow and hiding from the sun. The person laughed, and Aster finally placed their name; of course it was Jack, who else would try to wake him up?

'Should've known you'd be a heavy sleeper,' Jack's voice said, and Aster wanted to protest. He was normally a light sleeper, needing to be able to awake at a moment's notice in case someone trespassed on the farm. He served as a sort of first watch for the town, he couldn't afford to sleep deeply. 'Come on, wake up,' Jack continued, and Aster thought, _Maybe it's the company_.

'm awake,' Aster mumbled. 'What ye want, ye daft chicken?'

'Rude,' Jack said, but he was laughing again. 'We're headed out. Thought you should know. You going to be okay out here?'

'Always am,' Aster replied. 'Go, get gone.'

'Are you sure?' Jack said, sounding worried. 'I mean, you seem pretty out of it. I could hang around a few hours more, until you're awake again?'

That actually sounded pretty nice, Aster thought sleepily. It meant he could sleep more, let the aches fade further. 'If ye want,' he said slowly.

'Okay, I will,' Jack said. 'I'll go let the others know.'

A hand patted Aster's shoulder, and he turned his head, nuzzling it mindlessly. 'Okay, ye do that,' he said, and was dropping into sleep again before he could register Jack's startled, delighted laugh.

  
  


When Aster awoke at last, it was full dark, and only starlight entered his room. He was a bit disoriented for a moment; it was May, surely he wouldn't wake up before the sun rose? Then he remembered the past morning, and groaned under his breath when the aches made themselves known, jangling through his joints with malicious glee.

He heaved himself up out of the bed, and took a moment to gather his balance back. After he was certain he wouldn't trip into a wall, he stumbled over to the door and opened it.

Instead of the darkness he was expecting, the lights in the hallway were lit, warmly glowing and flickering cheerfully in their frosted glass bulbs. Literally frosted, he realised after a bit of bewildered staring at the little fern-like ice patterns that hadn't melted in the light's warmth. Jack had lit them.

Right, Jack. He'd stayed after the others had left, hadn't he?

'Then where's...' Aster started to say, then the ceramic click of plates against cutlery answered his question. 'Of course.'

He wandered over to the kitchen, moving with a ginger step minded towards his aches, and paused at the sight that met him.

'Oh, hey, Aster,' Jack said, looking up and grinning brightly. 'Thought you'd be up soon.'

Arrayed before Jack was a full meal, more than enough for one – possibly meant for two, Aster thought with both a rumble and a squirming of his stomach. Some salad, some hot soup, bread from his pantry.

'Didn't know ye could cook,' Aster said after a second of silence, and sat down, taking care to not wince at the pain.

Jack laughed, and seemed oblivious. 'Had to learn in self-defence,' he said. 'Have you seen North's kitchen? Nothing but sugar and meat as far as the eye can see. My mother would be appalled.'

Aster helped himself to the food, and was pleasantly surprised by it. The salad, a simple dish if he'd ever heard of one, was made complex with vegetables he didn't think should work together, and the occasional apple slice that surprised him. The bread was warm, and the soup was...

'Ye know I'm not actually a rabbit, right, mate?' Aster said, quirking an eyebrow at Jack. 'I can eat meat.' He certainly didn't want Jack depriving himself on his account, though his own meat stores were much smaller than anyone else's. He didn't eat it very often, if at all, and he made a mental note to check it and switch it out with newer stores.

Jack shrugged, swallowing a mouthful of the vegetable soup before saying, 'I know that. _I_ just don't like to.'

Aster was a little taken aback. Jack shrugged again, this time more self-consciously, and said, 'Always felt weird about eating animals that looked like people I'd known.'

'No wonder ye're such a little blighter,' Aster said, but smiled. 'It's not really me favourite, either. It's fine.'

'Careful there, Bunny,' Jack said, taking a bigger bite of bread than should fit in his head and swallowing it with some difficulty. 'You'll make people think you really are a rabbit.'

'Until I find some rabbits in me garden that can run as fast as I can, I'm not gonna worry about it.'

Jack choked on his soup, trying not to laugh, and Aster chuckled.

Before he knew it, the food had disappeared, and Jack stood, stretching. 'I should be getting home, Bun-bun.'

'In the dark?' Aster said, frowning for the first time all evening.

'Yes, in the dark, you overgrown fraidy-cat,' Jack snorted. 'Come on, I told you I sneak out at night.'

'In the town, ye do,' Aster reasoned. 'But not out here. Not the night after a raid. It's not safe, Frostbite, and I don't care how often ye do it.'

'What am I supposed to do, then?' Jack said, scowling. 'It's fine, Bunny, I've flown farther than this at night before.'

'Nick would have me hide,' Aster argued back. 'Just kip out here for the night, and fly back in the morning.'

Jack paused, looking surprised. 'You wouldn't mind?'

'Ye were planning on coming out here next week anyway,' Aster said, shuffling a bit. 'Think of it as a test run, if ye have to.'

'I – okay,' Jack said, still looking a little stunned. 'If you're sure?'

'What did ye think I was getting at, ye great bludger,' Aster snapped, more harshly than he'd meant to.

Jack didn't seem to mind, instead adopting a look that was too close to smugness for Aster's comfort. 'Thanks, Bun-bun,' he said, and smiled in what he clearly thought was a charming way. Aster ignored that it was working.

'Help me clean up,' Aster said gruffly, and Jack did so with a cheer that Aster wasn't sure the source of. The dishes went faster with two sets of hands, like any work, and then Aster let the way back down the hall. 'Ye can use this room,' he said, gesturing to one beside his own. 'S a guest-room. Ye can use it next week, too.'

'Thanks, man,' Jack said, and reach out, punching Aster gently. 'You should get more sleep.'

'I will,' Aster said, not precisely lying. 'Good night, Jack.'

Jack smiled up at him, peaceful and glad in a way Aster didn't understand, and softly said 'Good night, Aster,' before opening the door and closing it behind himself.

Aster went through the hall, extinguishing most all the lights, and the lights in the kitchen. His body still hurt, but he wouldn't be able to sleep without checking the farm; he never could.

He ignored that he had done so twice in the past day, and stepped out into the night.

His dam had told him stories, her blonde-gold hair bound back in a braid as they sat beneath the stars, her fingers gentle and graceful where his own were stubby and furred – closer to paws than anything else, like his sire's. Her granddam had told her stories of the Before, and she passed them onto Aster, stories where there were lights strung throughout all the towns, tamer fires than their glass and oil lanterns. There were cities that never darkened, she'd explained, and could be seen from space – and they'd been able to go to space, back then. Fly higher than any flier could go, where there was no air, only stars.

Little Aster had thought that sounded terrible, and told his dam so; she'd laughed and held him close, his little body not quite the shape of any other human child but fitting perfectly in her arms. She said in some ways, it had been. The lights had drowned out the stars, until it looked like the night was always cloudy, and the tame fires weren't so tame after all, dangerous when not contained, like real fire. Space was dangerous, and it was where the End had come from.

'Me serious little Aster,' she'd said, kissing his cheek gently. 'Course ye'd figure out it wasn't all roses. Ye're too smart by half.'

Now, beneath the same stars that she'd taught him all the names of, he patrolled the farm she'd loved so well. The fields were all in order, the barley cut short, the potatoes dug up. The grass wavered and stretched toward him, the way it always did after he used so much of the earthblood. For the next few days, the earth would be more aware than usual. The flowers would bend their heads to his touch and kiss his fingers with their petals; the vegetables would sprawl more luxuriously, and twine their young vines around whatever part of him they could reach.

Now, though, the fields were all asleep, and all was well. The sight soothed a deeper ache in him than those of his bones. Not the deepest ache, but it was good to seek comfort where he could.

There was no sense of being watched, which Aster had come to rely on as well as his ears. Still, he swivelled them about, and hearing nothing, he returned to his little house, and crawled into his bed.

He knew if he'd not been so tired from the morning's strain, not so pained, he would never have slept at all. Not with the knowledge of the heavy presence that now filled his home, that now slept on the other side of the wall.

Instead of thinking about that, he buried himself in the exhaustion of his body, and slept again.

  
  


Dawn woke him gently, and he was standing before his body could remind him why that was a terrible idea. Gritting his teeth, Aster forced himself to remain standing, hand against the wall until he was certain he could go out there without toppling.

He opened the door, ears twitching this way and that, but all he could hear was the faint breathing of – his guest. Still asleep, then.

Aster paused outside his kitchen, dithering for a moment before ducking inside; he snagged an apple for his breakfast, and set out a bowl of the fruit and some of the raisin bread from the back of his pantry under a cloth beside a dish of butter. He thought about leaving a note – something to explain where he'd gone? But Jack would figure it out just looking out his window. He had no reason to write a note then, surely? He decided the food would be message enough, and stepped outside under the young dawn's light.

Like he'd predicted, the fields and gardens perked up, those that could swaying towards him for attention, those that could not do so patiently awaiting their turn. The earth was endlessly patient, Aster knew, and made his rounds. Each plant got its own moment, from the tiniest pepper sprout to the widest butternut tree, and Aster could admit in the privacy of his mind that the pain was utterly worth this, this quiet and loving reaching out of life. Branches brushed gently through his fur like carding fingers, leaves nuzzled his paws, and one pear tree showered him with water, shaking like an excited dog. He chuckled at that, carefully stripping away dead twigs from its lower branches, fingers light to keep from causing harm.

The branches, already flowering in anticipation of sweet green fruit, bent down around him, and it felt, for just a moment, like his dam was hugging him again.

The moment passed, and the pear tree was a pear tree once more, but the loving feeling remained, sinking into his joints like a healing balm. He found he could move more easily now, and got down to work, humming as he weeded around the radishes.

Jack's wind tinkled in his ear, and Aster couldn't help laughing. 'I'll take it,' he said, and still laughing, added, 'Yer not even in the town right now, ye laze-about. Ye could walk out and talk to me yerself.'

'First, no,' Jack said, sounding muffled. 'Because that involves leaving this bed, and Bunny? You never told me you had the world's best bed hiding in your house. I'm never leaving this bed.'

The image came unbidden to Aster's mind, and he swallowed (hopefully soundlessly): Jack, tangled in sheets, a bare snow-white hip exposed but no further, his white hair wild and his blue eyes hooded. He forced it away with every bit of willpower he could muster, and was relieved to hear that Jack had continued talking.

'And second? No, you know what, the second point is also that I'm never leaving this bed, because I'm pretty sure if beds had like gods or whatever –'

'Jack.'

'– it would be their god, no questions asked, just 'yes, Aster's guest bed, your holiness' and 'whatever you commandeth, o Aster's great and glorious guest bed, we will declare war on the heathen mattresses in the town' –'

'Jack, ye dipstick,' Aster managed to say, laughing so hard he sat in the dirt. 'What are ye even talking about?'

'And point the third, wherein we finally move on from your fantastic bed, just great goddamned, is that you look like a dork.'

Aster rolled his eyes and directed a rude gesture towards Jack's window, which did indeed look out on much of the gardens, including all of the ones Aster had walked through this morning.

'A rude dork,' Jack said. 'Also, what is this bed made of? The sweet dreams of children and actual cloud fluff?'

'Yer never going to get over that bed, are ye?'

'I will have dreams of this bed,' Jack declared, shuffling noises indicating that he'd gotten out of bed at last. Squinting at the sun, Aster judged it to be around mid morning, somewhere towards nine, and rolled his eyes again. Jack was a laze-about, no doubt about it. 'Dreams, Bunny. What is this thing made of?'

'It's stuffed with cattail fluff, if ye must know,' Aster said. 'Me sire always did it. Why, what are yer beds like in the town?'

'They're stuffed with straw, typically, but we might as well have been using nails until now,' Jack replied, then added, 'Oh, raisin bread!'

'Straw, really?' Aster said, sitting back and looking at his radishes, which twitched their little green leaves at him cheerfully. 'No wonder yer in love with me guest bed.'

There was a pause on the other side of the wind, and Aster tilted an ear towards it; Jack exhaled quietly and said, 'You know, these apples are really good.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Ye should send a message off to Nick, let him know ye're alright,' he said, standing and dusting himself off before walking over to the strawberries, which were already waving in his direction, stretching to meet his hands and showing off their little white blossoms.

Jack made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a whine, which was lovely, but not helping Aster's concentration. 'He's just going to yell at me.'

'For what, staying the night? Staying safe?'

'For not letting him know last night I was staying,' Jack admitted. There was a door opening, and then Jack himself wandered out into the gardens, walking for once in his life. 'He's probably freaked,' he added once he was closer.

To Aster's surprise, the strawberries stretched out towards Jack, as well, who laughed a bit and gave Aster a look. 'They always do this?' he asked as he bent down and very carefully stroked the leaves that were begging for his attention. Aster watched closely, but no frost curled out over them, and he breathed a little bit in relief.

'Only after I speed things up,' Aster said. 'No one is usually around in the days after, so I wasn't sure if they'd respond to someone else.'

'They're like cats,' Jack said, gently scritching at the underside of one plant's leaves, which looked very happy with the arrangement.

'They can be,' Aster said, and adjusted a runner from where it was encroaching on another plant's territory.

The morning passed peacefully, Jack chattering and following Aster around, except when he sent a message to Nick, who did indeed yell. Before long, the sun was high, and Jack jostled Aster from his gardening haze. 'Come on, we should get lunch,' Jack said, and Aster blinked.

'I don't normally eat lunch,' he said as Jack chivvied him towards the house, still walking.

'That's terrible for you,' Jack scolded. 'Tooth would be so mad if she knew that.'

'Well, if ye don't tell her, then she won't get mad,' Aster said helpfully. Jack snorted at him, and pointed at the pantry.

'Go. Get food. I'll bet you only ate like, what, an apple this morning?'

Aster felt the bridge of his nose go red, and Jack scowled. 'Seriously, Bunny?'

'Like ye're one to talk,' Aster said snappishly, peering into the pantry and deciding a cheese sandwich should be enough. He brought out the bread and the cheese before adding, 'Ye're such a tiny thing, I'd be surprised if ye ate more than me.'

'Tiny, my ass,' Jack snapped back. 'I'm five-ten, which is perfectly respectable. You're just stupidly tall, what are you, six ten?'

'Six seven,' Aster corrected. 'It's the legs.'

'I'll just bet,' Jack grumbled. 'Shut up, eat food.'

'What, has Tooth taken ye under her wing and ye haven't told me? Didn't take ye for the nursing type,' Aster said, placing a slice of cheese between two of the bread slices.

'I'm not, you're just – ugh, you know what? Shut. Up. Eat. Food.'

Aster complied, but not without an eyeroll. Jack ate beside him, clearly irritated, and then stood again. 'Now, I'm going to go home,' Jack said. 'You will eat dinner tonight, and more than an apple tomorrow morning, because if you're so tired you miss out on the town meeting next week, I will fly out here and fly you back in myself.'

'Ye couldn't pick me up,' Aster said, ignoring the twinge in his chest at the realisation Jack was leaving.

'I have before,' Jack said menacingly, 'And I _will_ fly you through a rain cloud, see if I won't. I'll make a rain cloud, if I have to.'

Aster's ears pricked forward. 'Ye'll what?'

'Never mind,' Jack said hurriedly, going pink in the face. 'Take care of yourself, Bunny, okay, bye!' He flew out of the house before Aster could catch him, and was already in the sky by the time a few seconds later Aster had followed at top speed.

'What does that mean, ye loony?!' Aster shouted after him, skidding to a halt.

'Tell you next week, Bun-bun!' Jack shouted back, his voice already distant.

Aster, standing on his farm and watching him go, thought this was a bit of a band aid-situation: rip it off quick and take the pain all at once, or peel it off slowly and suffer less pain over a longer period of time.

Jack clearly was an 'all at once' kind of bloke, but Aster was more of the slow type. He steadfastly ignored the voice in his head that told him he would have delayed it until Jack had to stay another night, and went back to the rows of corn shoots that even now tilted in his direction. The voice was wrong, was all, and he had work to do, and so did Jack. Besides, he'd see him in another four, five days. He'd gone weeks before, it was hardly a hardship.

He told himself that the farm didn't feel empty, that just because it had been yonks since anyone had stayed at the farm for longer than a handful of daylight hours didn't mean that he was lonely, and went to work.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter today. Like I said, flailing idiots. *tries hard not to doki doki all over the damn place*

**CHAPTER 3**

  
  


His sire had been the one to find out he could run.

They'd always known Aster had his dam's gift and his sire's looks – hard not to, when he was born a little grey blob of fur and outside the window the slumbering geraniums burst into flower, the grey shrubs blooming green against the red dirt. Wherever the kit wandered, the grass would sway after, and trees would shower him with leaves; if he was missing, they always started by looking up in the branches, where he would hide and talk to the trunks like they could talk back. Maybe they could, his dam reasoned; no one knew how a child's powers would work until they did. Perhaps the animal qualities had interacted with the life gift and made him – something new. His dam and sire didn't care to speculate. They'd know when they knew, and there was no reason to fret when their son was healthy and happy.

Then, they'd left Australia, sailing east to Normerica and settling in a small town they found somewhere where the dirt was dark and the trees alive, unlike the long dead forests of the west coast. The town was small and nestled at the east entrance of a wide, fertile valley, connecting two roads on either side of the mountain chain, and a river ran down the middle of it. They built a home in the fields that had lain unattended for decades, since it was too far from the town for anyone sane to attempt living there.

'We're Australian,' his sire had said to a massive man with a white beard that went down to his belly and blue eyes beneath dark brows, the mayor of the town. It was the only person Aster had ever seen who was taller than his sire. 'We're not born sane to begin with, if it's all the same to ye.'

Aster didn't know why they'd left Australia, and he didn't know any of the people here, but he liked the land. Wide and rolling with green hills, tall trees, cooler weather than back home and the sun didn't make his fur itch. It was new and exciting, and little seven year old Aster couldn't help but love this home he helped his dam and sire build, young clumsy paws patting daub into place and helping his mother pull up earthblood to grow grass over the mound.

That didn't mean it was easy, and his sire – tall and russet coloured like the dirt in Australia, with paws Aster's shape and twice the size, long bushy tail twitching and tall ears flicking this way and that – was one of the only other animutts in town for a long time. There were no other children like Aster, and even in a world where everyone was a little strange, there was such thing as 'stranger than most'.

It had been on a trip into town to buy supplies – oil for the lamps, rope and nails, usual things – that it happened. His sire had stopped to chat with the blacksmith, a short, wide-set man with thickly scarred skin and black hair bound back in braids, and Aster had waited dutifully outside, kicking his toes through the dust and watching the clouds avidly.

'You don't even wear clothes?'

Aster looked over, startled, at the other boy who had come to stand off to his left. He was short and pudgy, brown hair curling over his forehead and a short, rat-like nose sitting unevenly in the centre of his face. 'Course I do,' Aster said, gesturing to the little belt his mother had made for him when he'd turned eight, and the plain cotton tunic that it wrapped around.

'But you don't wear pants,' the boy said, as if this was a great crime. 'Momma said only animals don't wear clothes.'

'I'm not an animal!' Aster protested, scowling. 'I'm just a mutt like ye, thanks. Didn't yer dam ever tell ye not to be rude? Me dam tells _me_ that.'

'She tells me not to be rude to people,' the other boy said, crossing his arms. 'But she never said nothing about having to be nice to a talking rabbit.'

'I'm not a rabbit!' Aster said loudly, standing up. 'What bug's up yer date?'

'You don't even talk like a real person,' the boy sniffed. 'That's probably why you and your rabbit dad live out in the woods. You can't live among normal people.'

When his sire peered out of the blacksmith shop at the sound of a scuffle, he could hardly see his son for all the dust kicked up. Being about nine, neither of the boys could do much damage (to each other or anyone else), and were pried apart without much trouble.

'What's gotten into ye, Aster?' his sire demanded, holding up his squirming child and looking into his green eyes. 'I didn't raise ye to go picking fights like a crazed brumby.'

'He called us animals!' Aster shouted, struggling to free himself. 'Lemme go, I'm gonna job him good –'

'Aster, no!' his sire roared, but it was too late – with a blur of speed, Aster leapt out of his arms and punched the other boy hard across the face, little grey fist like a comet. Before anyone could respond, Aster spat, 'I'm not the animal, _ye_ are!' before taking off down the road faster than just about anything anyone at the scene had ever seen – except for his stunned sire.

Hours later, his sire found him curled up in the highest branches of the tallest pine for miles, crouched into a tight ball and his arms wrapped around his little knees. 'Aster,' his sire sighed, pulling himself up into the nearest branch. 'Ye know what ye did was wrong.'

'I know,' Aster said dully, eyes fixed on the mountain's ridge line. 'I'm sorry, Da.'

'I know ye are,' his sire said, and reached out, ruffling Aster's ears. 'Do ye want to know what happened after?'

'I bet ye apologised to that rat,' Aster said, stirring a little.

'In a manner of speaking,' his sire chuckled, and began to explain.

'I'm sorry about this,' his sire had said to the boy's mother, who had hurried over.

'You ought to be,' she had replied, in much the same tone as her son, and Aster's sire narrowed his eyes. 'Imagine, you uncivilised animals coming to the town, no wonder he attacked my darling boy.'

'Watch what ye say about me kit, miss,' he said back, bristling. 'I'm starting to wonder which boy had the wrong end of the stick, here.'

'Yours, clearly,' she snarled. 'My boy's missing a tooth, now!'

'What has happened?' Boomed North's voice as the mayor strode over.

Before the woman could begin pouring out a sob story, Aster's sire had interjected, 'Her boy had the nerve to call me kit an animal, and I'll just bet I know where he got those ideas.'

'Is that true, Philip?' North asked, crouching beside the boy. The child, sensing it would be in his best interest to tell the truth, nodded reluctantly.

'They live out in the woods and don't wear any clothes,' he sniffled. 'Momma says that makes them animals.'

Aster's sire turned his gaze to the boy's mother, who had flushed a dull, ugly red.

'Philomena Punxsutawny,' North said, standing up. 'We have spoken, you and I. You know that Evergreen and Helena are welcome in town. You cannot be serious about this.'

'They are animals,' she snapped suddenly, gathering the boy to herself. 'And I won't have you telling me what I can tell my child, Nicholas.'

'No, I cannot,' North said gravely. 'But I can tell you this: if you continue to make fellow townsfolk unwelcome, you will find yourself unwelcome in this town. Am I being clear?'

'You would kick me out?!' she shrieked. 'For some a giant rabbit? For god's sake, Nicholas, think of the example his _wife_ is setting! Living with an animal like it's natural –'

'I told ye to watch what ye say about me kit,' Aster's sire rumbled. 'That goes for me wife, too. Don't ye dare say anything against her, or I'll be happy to see meself out of the town after I make sure ye can't say anything ever again.'

The silence was deafening, and the woman's mouth clicked shut. It opened once or twice, before finally she said, more than a touch hysterical, 'Fine. I don't care. But keep your – _kit_ – away from my boy, and stay away from my family, you hear me?'

'With great pleasure,' Aster's sire said mockingly. 'I'm sorry for the scene, mayor. Theold,' he said, turning to the blacksmith, 'I'll be back for me purchases tomorrow. I'm going to make sure me kit's okay.'

'He ran out fast as you,' the blacksmith said, sounding surprised beneath his customary gruffness.

'Aye, that he did,' Aster's sire said proudly, and went after his son.

Aster wiped at his eyes. 'She said that about Mam?' he said. 'Why? Why do they hate us?'

His sire sighed, and balancing carefully, scooped Aster up from his perch and settled him on his own lap. 'Evergreen Aster Bunnymund,' he said, pressing a kiss to Aster's forehead. 'Ye were given the same first name as me, and as me sire. Do ye know why?'

'No,' Aster muttered into his sire's chest.

'Because, in the Before,' his sire explained, voice rumbling like the earth, 'There was a kind of tree. It's still around – ye're sitting in one now – but it used to be much more common. It's a kind of tree that never goes brown, no matter how cold it gets. When the birches and the oaks and the maples all drop their leaves, the pines and the firs keep their needles, and stay green year round.' His sire nuzzled the space between his ears soothingly. 'We're just like the evergreen tree, me boy. We have needles to protect us, and even after everything has faded, we'll still be green.'

'Really?' Aster said, pulling back and looking at his sire's green eyes – more blue than his own, the colour of the needles all around him.

'Really,' he said, and hugged Aster again. 'And more importantly – don't think I didn't see ye take off like there was a fire under yer tail. How long have ye been able to do that?'

'For a while,' Aster said, grinning now. 'I wanted to surprise ye, Da.'

'Consider me surprised, me boy,' his sire said. 'Race ye home? Can't wait to see yer dam's face when she finds out.'

Aster giggled, and though a lifelong enmity was born that day (he never quite forgave Phil for what he'd said, and for his part, Phil was a whinging dill who couldn't get over his own inadequacy), so too was something small and growing in Aster's chest.

A certainty that no matter what, there would be green.

  
  


The sun rose red the morning of the town meeting, and it had Aster on edge. His dam had always said a little rhyme when the sky went this shade – 'Red at night, farmer's delight. Red in the morning, farmers take warning.' She'd never been wrong, either. When the sun rose red, tools broke, or surprise storms struck, or a feral dog got into the drying shed. Aster checked the farm carefully, examining each plant as swiftly as he could, but nothing seemed amiss; so it was that he shouldered his supply pack – empty at the moment – and set off for town.

The forest was as loud as it ever was during his run, with the sounds of chirping birds and the river, but as he ran, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong. He didn't like the way the trees shivered as he passed, and huddled close to him when he paused to stare; nor the way the grass seemed to crouch low, and the way the wildflowers seemed to curl into themselves. It was as if the earth was afraid, somehow.

He reached out for the earthblood – not a lot, but a little trickle – and drew it up, winding it gently through the roots and and the leaves and stalks. They all shivered before standing taller, brighter. He wasn't speeding their growth, or anything like that; it was more of a reassurance, a reminder to the frightened forest that the earth remained strong beneath them, and at least one person stood between the plants and whatever had unnerved them so. With one last stroke of his paw along a pine's trunk, he continued on his journey.

As he went, he kept pulling up tiny bits of the earthblood. It was nowhere near what he'd needed before, and in some ways was less than he usually used. The farm always had a thin current running just beneath it, one his dam had originally called up and had passed the maintenance of on to him. He was so used to keeping that near to the surface that he wasn't sure he could even put it back down into the main veins, that it hadn't just become his at last.

With the energy he pulled up from the earth, he soothed the forest, leaving it swaying and strong in his wake, the greens more vibrant, the flowers taller. To his surprise, even the river – clear and wide as she always was – splashed high when he passed, giving him a gentle mist that, though cold, was like a friendly wave.

He arrived in town feeling both uneasy by the forest's state and relieved that there was something he could do about it. The town was bustling and alive, the way it was every town meeting day: dozens of people darted in and out of shops, laughing and chattering and trading gossip on street corners.

It sort of made Aster's fur stand on end, that many people all in one place, but since it only happened ever so often, he could ignore it. He traded polite hellos with those who bothered to turn from their own conversations, and accepted thanks for the renewed food stores with embarrassed shuffles and mutters of 'it was nothing, really' and 'couldn't let ye lot go hungry'.

He really wasn't great with this whole mammal-to-mammal interaction thing.

It was with some relief that he ducked into the blacksmith's shop; he needed some nails and fittings. He'd been meaning to build a proper woodshed for years now, and he'd finally just decided to do it.

'Aster,' the blacksmith grunted, his once dark hair gone silver, but always in the same braid.

'Theold,' Aster said with relief. 'How ye going?'

'Like a roof on fire,' Theold responded shortly, and Aster grinned. 'What're you looking for?'

'Two pounds of nails and enough fittings for a shed about ten by six feet,' Aster said. 'Usual price still going?'

'For you? Always,' Theold nodded briskly. 'Half a bushel of corn and a barrel of your best butternuts.'

'Perfect,' Aster said. 'When can ye have that ready by?'

'The fittings are done. Nails, couple of days. Got a lot of orders in, past few days. Locks, too.'

'Raiders got everyone on edge, huh?' Aster said, leaning on the counter.

'Not so much now. You're a miracle.'

The praise out of surly Theold's mouth was like someone declaring Aster a deity, and he went a bright red that he was pretty sure went beyond his nose and straight up his ears. 'That's kind of ye to say,' he managed, and Theold barked out a laugh.

'It's true. I'll have nails done three, four days. Stop back in.'

'Will do,' Aster said, and left; he still had to go to the general store and pick up oil, a roll of cotton, and maybe five pounds or so of sugar. He was running low again.

The wind brushed by his cheek and tinkled in his ear. 'You're good,' he told her.

'Hey, Bunny,' Jack said through the wind.

'Ye're the laziest bloke I've ever met, Frost,' Aster replied, nodding to a woman and her brood of children. They each bore the same beaky nose and big, round eyes; her husband was an owl animutt, and while the anklebiters hadn't inherited the feathers, they more than took after their father in the face. 'I'm in town, ye can come find me. I'm not exactly easy to lose in a crowd.'

'I'm actually busy for once, Bun-bun,' Jack said, but he didn't sound offended; more like he was trying not to laugh. 'Sandy wants you to come over before the meeting, but if you can't, he'd be happy to see you after.'

'How is he? It's been a while,' Aster admitted, nearing the general store.

'He says he's been busy, and something about a gecko? A glass of water? I don't get it.'

Aster laughed. 'Flat out like a lizard drinking,' he translated. 'Always knew Sandy was my favourite.'

'Thanks, Cottontail.'

'Hush, ye. I'll stop over once I'm done at the gen-shop.'

'Okay, he says to hurry.'

'Got it,' Aster said, frowning, and the wind tinkled again, ending the message.

'Before ye go,' he said to her, feeling a little silly for talking directly at her when Jack was the only one he'd seen who could actually do so, 'Can ye tell Jack something for me?'

She brushed warmly past his ears in what he hoped was agreement.

'Tell him to “make sure Nick knows where he's going today, because otherwise I'll bring it up, and Nick will spit the dummy, I'll tell ye that for free”,' he said clearly.

The wind seemed to – nuzzle, maybe? – at his nose, a quick tiny gust from nowhere, and left him. 'Strange little thing,' Aster muttered, and went into the shop.

He bought what he needed for the price of four gallons of apple cider and a basket of carrots, to be delivered at the harvest, and headed straight to the library.

A relic of the Before, the library and the books it contained were nigh sacred, and Sandy tended the both of them jealously. If it hadn't been for those books, Riverfield would be nowhere near as well-off as it was. It was the library that had helped design the lanterns and taught the original survivors how to make nails and blow glass, how to build looms and homes, how to irrigate fields and sustainably log the forest and organise a town government. As long as anyone could remember, Sandy had been in charge of the cavernous building. Apparently, no one knew how old Sandy really was, except Sandy himself. Since Sandy was mute and faked deafness every time someone asked, no one else had ever found out.

He was a short man, almost the height of a child, and round as a pumpkin in October; he manipulated light and sand, and used them to speak a sort of pictographic language that only a handful of people really understood. Sand seemed to gravitate to him, and Aster had sat patiently through more than one non-verbal rant about how the grains got into the pages.

Aster entered the library, relieved to be free of the people outside, and called out, 'Sandy? Jack, ye here?'

'Back here, Bunny!' Jack called back from the far end of the building, and Aster walked over to find Sandy flashing a series of images over and over again, and Jack looking utterly lost.

'Slow it down, Sandy,' Aster said, stepping over to stand beside Jack. 'What's got ye so worked up?'

'Apparently there's some news Nick's got for the town meeting,' Jack said, studying the images intently now that they weren't going by quick as lightning. 'It's bad, I guess? From what I can tell? But I can't tell what those four symbols mean.'

Aster peered at it as Sandy impatiently flashed the four in question once more; a thin figure, a spiralling, jagged line Aster recognised as the word for fire, a set of houses that was different from the word 'town' by a count of three less, and a shape Aster didn't know at all, long and stretched out like the word for 'shadow' but tangled like the word for 'fear'.

'I'm not rightly sure meself,' Aster admitted, and Sandy huffed in frustration, a dusty sand puffing from out his mouth. 'It's a person, and then fire, then – maybe village? It's smaller than town, see? But then the last one, I've never seen before.'

'A village burned down, maybe?' Jack said, sounding both fascinated and horrified. 'God, I hope not. That'd be awful.'

Sandy reached out and patted Jack on his arm. Outside, the bells of the town hall began to ring, telling them the meeting would begin shortly, and Aster shook his head.

'Suppose we'll be finding out in a minute,' he said. 'Come on, ye two, let's not be late.'

Sandy nodded, flashing a clock-shape, and they got moving.

In the town hall, Aster plopped down beside Toothiana, who had most of a bench to herself and her daughters. The girls waved cheerfully, chattering amongst themselves in the chirpy language of wherever Tooth was from, and one in particular drifted over.

She looked the most like Tooth, and was her youngest daughter at fourteen; she and Jack got on famously, and when Jack sat down next to Aster, she sat down next to him.

'Hey, Baby Tooth,' Jack said, and the girl rolled her massive eyes.

She grabbed his hand and began gesturing, visibly annoyed. Aster had never heard her speak once aloud, but she had her mother's gift of touch telepathy and empathy, and certainly made herself understood. She couldn't control when people heard her when she touched them the way her mother could, and that had made her much more shy than her sisters, who could. Nevertheless, Jack had all but adopted her as surrogate sister when he'd arrived in town and she was only six, and she always seemed much braver when he was around.

'You'll always be Baby Tooth to me,' Jack teased with a bright grin, and she gave in with an exasperated smile.

'How have you been, Bunny?' Tooth herself asked, turning Aster's attention over to his right. 'It must have been a tiring few days.'

'Just a bit,' Aster said, see-sawing his paw back and forth. 'Nothing I couldn't handle. And yerself?'

'Much the same,' she sighed. 'Seems like whatever flu was floating around has left us at last, thank goodness. Should have an easier time of it for a few days.'

'That's good,' he said as North mounted the stairs to the raised platform.

'Alright, let us get meeting begun!' North shouted over the hubbub, and soon it was quiet. 'Before meeting today, I am receiving news that concerns all of us.'

A quiet murmur went up, and Aster's ears flicked forward in interest. His left ear flopped in Jack's direction when he muttered, 'Must be what Sandy was talking about.'

'Reckon,' Aster muttered back. Jack's hand brushed past his paw and patted it; when Aster looked over with a startled gaze, Jack seemed unaware of the motion, his attention wholly focussed on his grandfather.

'Today, I am receiving letter from town leader of Mount Sheafer,' North said, his usually cheerful demeanour drowned in a solemnity Aster hadn't seen in years. 'I will read it aloud, that we may discuss what it means, and how to handle it.'

With a crackle of papers, he held it up, then squinted at it. 'Actually, in interest of being understood,' he said wryly, 'someone else should read. Letters are small, and my English is still not best in town.'

'Hold on, Nick,' Tooth said, flitting into the air and flying over the rest of the town to land delicately beside him. She was tiny beside his great mass, but she looked no less serious. Her daughters to Aster's left shuffled over, making small noises that sounded worried, and Aster patted the nearest one comfortingly, her orange and yellow feathers quivering as if in a great breeze. The girl (Indira, Aster thought) leaned into the touch, and sent a quiet little _thank you_ into his mind. 'Alright, here it is,' she said, holding the papers up into the light.

' _Dear Nicholas:_

_I wish I could write to you with good news as I have for so long, my old friend, but circumstances have conspired against us, and beyond us, the people we care for._

_This morning, I received news from Katherine that the township of Chough's Landing has been found incinerated._ '

There was a great gasp that went up from the gathered people then, and Indira gave a little plaintive cry.

Baby Tooth reached over to Aster's shoulder, crossing Jack at the same time, and saying to both of them at once, _Incinerated? What does that mean?_

'Burned,' Jack whispered back before Aster could speak. 'To nothing.'

Baby Tooth recoiled, horrified, and clung to Jack's left side. He held her close, arm wrapped tightly over her feathered shoulders but carefully above her wings, and his hand brushed Aster's again. This time it wasn't a pat that he gave; instead, he gripped Aster's paw, and perhaps in a different time, Aster would have flinched back, would have ignored it. Now, with this kind of news? He gripped Jack's hand back, and they held on tightly, neither acknowledging with look or word that they needed the support.

'Quiet, everyone!' Tooth's voice cut through the babble, high and authoritative, and she waited for the talking to subside completely before continuing.

' _She tells me the land is dark and pitted, the buildings gone but for the foundations, and no sign of the people who lived there remains. You remember from my letter a week ago that it had only been a month or so since she had passed through Chough's Landing last, and she had heard nothing about the disappearance of the town until she came across it._

' _We do not know, one way or the other, what happened at Chough's Landing; whether it was raiders, or a mutt's powers gone rogue by accident, or a simple wildfire. She worries for the implications, and warns us to be on guard._

' _Mount Sheafer intends to enter a period of isolation, by town vote. This will be my last letter for some time, my friend. Be careful, and watch your borders until what happened has come to light._

_Yours in friendship,_

_Ombric._ '

'Isolation?' A woman asked loudly when Tooth had fallen silent. 'They choose to hide?'

'We do not know what has happened,' Nick said with a voice that cut short any murmurs that tried to begin. 'It is course of action that will be considered. Mount Sheafer has many defensive options, many not available to us in valley. So too do we have options they do not.'

'What are those?' The woman married to the owl animutt asked, holding onto her smallest child with a death grip, her husband's feathered arm gathered around her shoulders.

'Isolation is option,' Nick admitted. 'But we are not dependent on other towns like Mount Sheafer, and it will have little effect in keeping us safe if nearby towns come looking for us, curious. Another option is patrols around borders.'

'What, like sending the town's guards around the entire valley?' Phil speaks up from the back, making Aster's ears twitch in annoyance. 'It's too big for that. Besides, the town would be vulnerable.'

'True,' Nick began to say, but Phil bulldozed on,

'Besides, the only one who lives any distance from the town is Bunnymund. Are we supposed to risk all our lives for his?'

Aster began to bristle, but beside him, Jack stood up, letting go of both Aster and Baby Tooth and whirling in place. 'He just made all of ours a hell of a lot easier,' Jack snarled. 'He provides food for the whole town! He just knocked himself out replacing stores that were lost on _your_ watch, Punxsutawny!'

Phil opened his mouth to argue back, but Nick cut in. 'Philip, Jackson, enough. I was about to suggest only patrolling past farm, for safety purposes.'

'I can handle the farm, Nick, ye know that,' Aster said, feeling a bit like he was on the spot.

'Against many things, yes,' Nick agreed. 'But we do not know what has happened.'

'What if it's another End?' A man said from the back, shivering and sending little sparks up from his skin that had his neighbours leaning away from him. 'A real End, one that ends everything?'

'It is not another End!' Nick said firmly. 'We do not know what it is. We must not panic. A third option is to continue as we have done, until we have more information. Perhaps double watch at nights.'

'I think that's the most sensible option,' Phil sniffed from the back, and Aster had to hold Jack's hand again to keep him in his seat.

'We will take a vote, before we continue to other matters,' Nick said. 'Blind vote. Sandy, the lights?'

Sandy nodded and scrunched up his face; carefully, light bled away from Aster's sight, until he sat in a deep darkness. He knew everyone but Nick would be seeing the same thing, but that was hardly a comfort. He would have felt a bit nervous, if it hadn't been for Jack's hand tightening around his paw. He let go gently and put his paws in his lap, pretending his fur didn't feel cold without Jack's hand upon it.

'Option one: total isolation. Raise right hand if you wish to vote.'

Aster heard some shuffling, but he couldn't tell where it was from.

'Option two: limited patrols. Again, raise right hand.'

More shuffling, some more than before. No way to tell how much.

'Option three: increased night watch. Right hand, please.'

Aster kept himself as silent as he could, raising his right paw until Nick said, 'Alright, lower your hands. Sandy, lights, please.'

Slowly, Aster was able to see again, and the first thing he saw was Nick's worried face. 'By majority vote,' he announced, 'we will increase night watches on town, until we have more information.'

There was some grumbling, but not much, and with a clap of his hands, Nick silenced it. 'Thank you for help, Toothiana,' he said. 'You may return to seat.'

'Anytime, Nick,' she said, patting his cheek, and flew back to Aster's side. Her girls shuffled back over, but not too far, crowding into each other and their mother. Baby Tooth joined them with a gentle touch and an _excuse me_ to Aster as she passed, all but curling up in her mother's lap.

'What if something happens, though?' Jack whispered as Nick began to talk about the next point of the meeting, which was whether or not they would try to build a more express way to transport water in the town. 'To the farm, I mean.'

Aster was pretty sure he knew what Jack had voted for, and it warmed him from the inside. 'She'll be apples, Jack, no dramas,' he said, and bumped him with his shoulder. 'I've got it.'

'You better have,' Jack said warningly, 'or I'll be so mad, I swear...' Then, because Aster's life made no sense, Jack grabbed his paw and held on again, tangling his thin fingers between Aster's thickly furred ones.

Aster figured he might as well enjoy this temporary reprieve from reality, because there was no way Jack was really holding his hand, and began to listen to the debate re: aqueducts v. terraced water collection.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually the THIRD chapter posted today, so don't read this until you've read chapters 2 and 3! Head on back, you stickybeak.

**CHAPTER 4**

  
  


'Ye ready to go?' Aster asked as they trailed out of the town hall some hours later, and Jack winced. Aster raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

'I, uh, maybe meant to tell North before the meeting,' Jack said, shuffling his feet through the dirt, 'but forgot to? And now... with Chough's Landing gone, I'm pretty sure he's gonna say no way.'

Aster kept his face as impassive as he could, to hide the sharp disappointment. 'Well, that's alright,' he said. 'Ye can come over once this blue is all figured out –'

'What?' Jack said, looking up at him. 'You don't want me to come over, Bunny?'

'Er,' Aster said, blinking. 'Ye did just say Nick was gonna nix the whole idea, right?'

'No, well, I mean yes, I did say that,' Jack said hastily, 'but I meant more “let's get going before he figures out I'm not here” than “yeah, let's not do this”.'

'Jack,' Aster said disapprovingly. 'He's just worried, is all. I can imagine. Ye shouldn't just up and disappear on him like that, especially after that news.'

'You shouldn't be alone, after that news,' Jack argued, crossing his arms. 'Who knows what happened, Aster? You need someone to watch your back.'

Aster held still under Jack's glare, uncertain of how to respond to that. On the one hand, he wanted Jack to come back with him because – a lot of reasons. He was just as capable of fighting as Aster, and he made excellent company, and if he was near, Aster could keep an eye on him. Among other reasons.

But on the other, he was safer in the town, which would undoubtedly be what Nick said, and Aster wasn't so selfish as to put his friend in danger for the tangled mess that was his own emotions.

'In fact, I think that's what I'll tell North,' Jack continued, still glaring. 'Let's see him say no to that.'

'No to what?'

Jack and Aster both flinched, having been so wrapped up in their argument that they hadn't heard the bloke in question approach. Nick was giving them both a suspicious look.

'Jack was going to come with me for a visit,' Aster rushed to explain before Jack could open his mouth. 'A few days, we'd decided on, but with all this...' Aster shrugged. 'I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to do.'

'You have point,' Nick said thoughtfully.

'It would be better if Aster wasn't alone out there, though,' Jack said, glaring at Aster as if he'd just insulted him. 'I could help keep watch, and send word if something goes wrong.'

'Also good point,' Nick said, and Aster didn't like the grin he was sporting now, not one bit. 'A better one, in fact! Go, get your things. I wish to speak to Bunny.'

'Ha!' Jack said, punching the air before flying off towards the mayor's home.

'Walk with me, Bunny,' Nick said, not unkindly, and Aster tried his best to keep his glare inside his head. From the glances he kept getting from people they passed, he suspected he wasn't successful. 'You worry about my grandson too much,' Nick said after a moment. 'He is grown man, though perhaps not as mature as he ought be. He can care for himself – and others, if he chooses.'

Aster gave Nick a sidelong look. 'I know that,' he said. 'But this could be bigger than just a new raider gang, ye _know_ that.'

'It could also have been accident,' Nick said. 'We cannot know yet. Katherine may yet come and bring word.'

'I'd feel better if he was in town,' Aster muttered, and Nick chuckled.

'Let us have no shadows between us,' Nick said, pausing on his porch. On the second floor, Aster could hear Jack rustling through things, but it was faint enough that he was sure Jack couldn't hear them. 'I know you care very much for my grandson.'

Aster flinched, and felt his nose turn redder than he could remember. 'Er –'

'It is fine, Bunny, do not worry,' Nick said, and patted Aster's shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. 'He does not know, oblivious boy that he is.' Nick leaned forward, and now there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. 'I expect you to keep him safe out there, Bunny. I know you will, but I wished to express importance that you do, to be certain, yes?' He leaned back. 'I do not feel need to bring out swords to make point, but they are waiting if my grandson comes to harm.'

'I – um, yeah,' Aster managed. 'Hear ye loud and clear.'

'Excellent!' Nick said, then bellowed, 'Hurry up, Jack! You are like fussing girl, you take so long!'

'Say that where Tooth can hear you, see how long you live!' Jack hollered back.

'He doesn't know, though?' Aster pressed, having finally processed all of this.

'No,' Nick said. 'He would not have believed me, had I told him. You are Aster! He cannot imagine it.'

Aster tried to keep the same expression on his face, but his ears drooped before he could stop them. 'Ah,' he said.

'Not for reasons you are thinking, I am thinking,' Nick said, and when Aster frowned, he chuckled. 'To all things their seasons, Bunny. I will see you soon.'

As if that was his cue, Jack burst out of the front door and nearly knocked Nick off the porch. 'Sorry!' Jack said, laughing at Nick's disgruntled look, then turned to Aster. 'Ready to go, Bunny?'

'Still not sure this is the best idea ye've ever had,' Aster sighed. 'But ye're stubborn as a rock, so I'm not gonna try to convince ye otherwise.'

'See, this may not be my best idea,' Jack said with a cheeky grin, 'but that? That one's yours.'

'Rack off,' Aster huffed. 'Ye've got everything?'

'Yeah,' Jack said, and picked up a walking stick, curved and knotted at the top, from where it leaned up against the door jamb. He'd had it as long as Aster had known him, but it had been a few years since he'd seen Jack carry it; it fit him more fully, now, grown as he was into his own body, and it no longer seemed unwieldy in his hands. 'Let's go. I'll send the Wind over once a day,' he said to Nick. 'I'll check in. She can carry messages just as well without me physically here, so I'll spend some time letting her float around so people can ask her to do that.'

'Your range will not be affected?' Nick asked, eyebrow raised.

Jack smiled, and it was secretive in a way that sort of made Aster's mouth go dry, so he looked away. 'I've been practicing, don't worry about it.'

'Very well,' Nick said, smiling. 'You two best get moving before is dark! I will speak to you tomorrow, my grandson. Be safe.'

'You're such a worrier, god,' Jack said, already floating above their heads. 'Can we go?'

'Bunny, remember what I say. Is very important,' Nick said, looking at Aster, his eyes twinkling once more.

Aster swallowed, but nodded as firmly as he could. 'She'll be right, Nick, I've got this,' he said, ignoring Jack's curious gaze.

'Very good! Goodbye, both of you. I have much business to attend to.' Nick turned and walked into the house, leaving Aster alone with Jack, who had floated down to be of an eye level.

'What was that about?'

'Ye know Nick,' Aster deflected, shrugging. 'Typical worries, the usual bulldust. Race ye?'

Jack lit up, and leaned back in the air. 'What, you're not scared you'll lose to a flier?' he said, watching Aster with a bright, self-assured gaze. 'I'm pretty sure it would crush you, Bunny, if you lost. Sure you want to risk it?'

Aster grinned back, comfortable here on their more natural footing. 'Ain't a risk, is it, if ye can't back up the threat?' He said rhetorically, quickly adjusting the straps of his supply bag so that it would hold firm. 'Hell, I'll even give ye a three second lead, Frost, just to give ye a fair go.'

'As if I'd need it,' Jack scoffed, leaning forward competitively. 'But I love to see you forced to eat your own words.'

'You'll be eating me dust, if ye don't get moving,' Aster advised. 'One.'

Jack took off like a shot, leaving tiny flakes of snow in his wake, laughing maniacally. 'Two,' Aster shouted after him, the other man already halfway across town, and crouched low.

'Three,' he whispered to himself, and _ran_.

His usual lope was nothing to this, nothing to how he could move when he gave himself over to the speed, and god, there was little so thrilling as this. He was through the town in a few seconds, already hot on Frost's trail, leaping from wall to wall to avoid the startled passersby below. He stretched forward, and pushed off his legs, and pulled himself with his arms: the earth seemed to move beneath him, rather than the other way around, like he was making her turn with every step and every jump.

It was a matter of a moment to catch up to Jack, and while the temptation was to slow enough to shout a taunt, he knew little enough about the bugger's speed to know that wasn't wise. Jack had tricks and tricks up his sleeve, and Aster wanted to _win_ , to show off, to prove he was faster and stronger, fast and strong enough to protect and to care for and to provide for –

_And that's a thought train that's off limits for the next week,_ Aster told himself, and instead raced on, outstripping Jack and his wind, outstripping the world, outstripping just about anything that moved.

  
  


'You couldn't even pretend to lose?' Jack yelled to him ten minutes later, having made it to the farm at last. Aster had already shrugged off the supply bag and started putting his purchases away, and stuck his head out of the door.

'Ye started it, mate,' he shouted back. 'Ye should know better by now – this is how many times ye've lost?'

'I won once!'

'I had the flu, and ye were dragging me to the hospital because ye couldn't get me to answer yer messages,' Aster called, returning to stacking the oil jars neatly by age. 'Ye ran ahead to tell Tooth we were coming, and then told me when I was better that it counted as a race. It didn't.'

'It did too,' Jack snorted, dropping to the earth and almost tumbling through the door before he caught himself. 'You just don't remember, because you had a crazy high fever and wouldn't remember if you'd proposed marriage.'

It was only because Aster was facing the jars that he was able to hide his blush, and cleared his throat, shuffling the jars around. 'Ye're just puffing up yer own scores,' he said, turning and hoping the blush was mostly gone.

'Hard to puff up a score of one, Cottontail,' Jack said, grinning, his face gone pink with the cold of the high air. 'But you've got to admire me for trying.'

'Or ignore it entirely,' Aster said, and smiled at Jack's laugh. 'Come on, I'll put the billy on, I've still got the peppermint tea ye nearly wiped out last winter.'

'Oh my god,' Jack said, eyes gone wide. 'You said you weren't making that anymore.'

'Can't stop peppermint from growing once she's started,' Aster said, because it had been an empty threat, for all that Jack had believed it. Once Aster had found out that Jack liked it, it would have taken a lot more than running out to keep him from growing more. 'Sides, Nick likes it, too. And he'll pay out the nose for it.'

'You just like being able to say “I've got the goods, Mr. Mayor”,' Jack said, doing a passable imitation of Aster's accent. 'Admit it, you're running a tea smuggling ring out of Riverfield.'

'Better than some things I could be growing,' Aster pointed out. 'If I was in this for the money, I wouldn't have fields of corn, lemme tell ye.'

Jack rolled his eyes as he followed Aster into the kitchen. 'Please, the worst thing you could get away with around here is tobacco.'

'Which I grow.'

'Exactly,' Jack said, sitting down. Aster puttered around with the kettle, filling it with water and putting it over the little fire he kept burning regardless of the temperature. It was easier than building a new one each time and waiting for it to burn hot enough to do anything with.

Aster turned around and sat across from Jack, grinning now. 'I also grow poppies and marijuana for Tooth,' he said. 'The hospital needs those supplies, ye know that.'

'But those aren't bad,' Jack said, frowning. 'They're _medicine_.'

'Didn't used to be, Jack,' Aster shrugged. 'Sides, Nick only lets me grow them because of the hospital. His parents lived in the Before, and things like that could get ye in a lot of trouble. He's still not comfortable with them, to be honest.'

'I've never had to take either of them,' Jack admitted. 'What's so bad?'

'The poppy juice can be addictive,' Aster said, ticking the points off his finger. 'So can the tobacco, but don't tell Nick he can't have his pipe, I've tried that convo and like to pretend it didn't happen. And the marijuana isn't addictive, but it messes with the reaction times, et cetera.' Aster shrugged. 'Even medicine can be bad if used wrong.'

'So, what, you're saying you could sell some of your stuff to people who use it wrong?' Jack said, frowning.

'Never would, but ye've got the right of it,' Aster shrugged. 'I live here, and Tooth needs it more than some raider needs to forget the world for an hour or two.'

'So, you keep some of the harvest back for yourself, and for general storage,' Jack said, putting his chin in his hand and cradling his crook in his left arm, 'And, what, sell the rest to the town?'

'Not hardly,' Aster laughed as the kettle began to whistle. 'Grab some mugs, would ye? Second cupboard from the sink.'

Jack stood and went to get them as Aster poured the water in the kettle over peppermint leaves in the ceramic teapot his dam had made the summer he was eleven, and set the teapot on the table as Jack brought over the mugs. 'What does that mean?' Jack asked, taking his seat again and fidgeting slightly as he waited for the tea to steep.

'What does what mean?'

'You said not hardly,' Jack said, finger quotes emphasising the “not hardly”. 'What does that mean?'

'Oh,' Aster said, and shrugged. 'I don't sell the harvest to the town. I just give it.'

Jack paused, and Aster squirmed a bit under his gaze. 'What?'

'You do all this work for free?' Jack said, staring.

'No,' Aster protested. 'I keep a fifth of the crops for meself, that's hardly nothing.'

'But, like, we don't trade you things for it?'

'This farm is part of the town, ye drongo,' Aster said, trying to not make his fiddling thumbs obvious. 'I live in the town. I give the food to the town, and in return, I'm part of the town, I benefit from the trade nearby, it's all good.'

'It feels like we're cheating you,' Jack said, looking down at his lap.

'Yer not,' Aster said, and resisted the urge to reach across the table and snag Jack's left hand. 'I always have more than enough. What kind of person would I be if I made ye lot pay for food that ye need to live? I'm not that kind of selfish, I promise ye.'

'You're not any kind of selfish,' Jack muttered, sounding somewhere between annoyed and affectionate, and Aster had to physically work to keep his ears from flattening.

'That isn't true, Jack,' he said instead, and began to pour the tea. 'Everyone's some kind of selfish. That's the way people are.'

Jack rolled his eyes. 'Okay, whatever,' he said, pulling his own mug to himself. 'Keep telling yourself that.'

'What, the truth?'

'No, that you're somehow –' Jack clicked his mouth shut.

'What?' Aster said, a little bewildered and a touch defensive.

'Somehow lesser,' Jack said into his mug, like that would muffle it enough that Aster couldn't hear it. 'Like you're not worth as much as the rest of us.'

'Everyone's worth the same, Jack,' Aster said, and clenched his paws around his mug to keep from saying anything more. 'Just the same.'

'Please,' Jack said with a half-hearted grin. 'You're going to tell me you're not worth more than Phil?'

Aster scowled. 'He's a prick, is all.'

'And you're a secret softy,' Jack laughed. 'Seriously, everyone in town is like, “he never smiles”, and “he's got a heart like a stone”, and I'm just sitting here, wondering if they really mean the guy who goes out after big storms and hugs all of the trees before taking off the broken branches, apologising the whole time.'

Aster felt himself go red – it was just pathetic, how often that was happening lately – and swallowed half his mug of tea before he could splutter out a denial. He had done exactly as Jack had said more than once, after all.

They sat and drank their tea in a silence halfway between companionable and awkward. Outside the windows, the evening was beginning fall, the sky turning paler and pinker. A red sun had rose, and Aster suspected a red sun would set.

'I should check the farm before it get too dark,' he said, standing and gathering the dishes, setting them beside the sink. 'Make yerself at home, Jack. The guest-room ye used last week is yers again, if ye want it.'

'Oh, god, yes,' Jack said, his voice gone a little breathy, and Aster nearly fumbled the teapot. 'I love that bed. I don't think you understand how much I've longed for that bed, Aster.'

'I think I can guess,' Aster chuckled, hiding his face. 'Don't break anything, and don't ice over anything delicate, ye hear?'

'Yes, sir,' Jack said with a flippant salute and mocking grin. 'I'll keep the frost to the sturdy things and only break the stuff I brought with me.'

Aster shrugged. 'Good enough for me,' he said. 'I'll be back.'

'Okay,' Jack said, smiling, and Aster left the house.

He paused outside the door, closing it behind himself, and rested against it a moment, letting his knees get used to his weight once more; Jack had that effect on him. Had had it for a few years now. He left Aster confused and red and more than a little weightless in the chest, and if he ever found out, Aster would lose one of the best friends he'd ever had.

With that sobering thought, his spine straightened and bore him upright once more. He checked each plant as thoroughly as he had the past morning, and as he gently stroked leaves and rearranged stems, he remembered how frightened the forest had seemed. Here, though, with the earthblood so near and their caretaker watching over them, none of the plants carried the same fear. The gardens and the fields lay still and sleeping, having at last run through the excess magic that had kept them so aware, and now only the thin current he always had near him was the only energetic thing on the whole farm.

Well, it had been, until Jack arrived. Aster's ears swivelled around towards the house as he heard the door opening, though he kept his focus on the patch of catmint he had to keep carefully corralled, lest it overrun its neighbours completely.

'Going for a flight, Bun-Bun!' Jack shouted, and Aster jerked as beneath him, the earthblood thrummed, as if reacting to Jack's voice.

'Don't be out too late! Or too far!' Aster called back.

'Sure, Mom,' Jack answered, his voice sardonic, and Aster chuckled, uprooting one of the sneakier shoots of catmint and tucking it gently back beside the others.

He lost himself to the work, the delicate minutiae of maintenance, and before he quite realised it, Jack's hand grabbed his paw.

'Did you even notice it was dark?' Jack asked teasingly when Aster whipped his head around. Aster flushed, because it was indeed dark, well into twilight; the sun had set without him noticing, and the sky was a deep red.

'No,' Aster admitted. 'Had a good flight?'

'The best,' Jack said, smiling. 'You've got to get over this fear of heights, Bunny, you need to see the view.'

'I've got no problem with heights when there's a sturdy tree or stone beneath me feet,' Aster huffed. 'It's when I'm floating in the bloody air that I've got a problem. A big problem.'

'You're ridiculous,' Jack said, pulling Aster to his feet by rising higher in the air. 'I'd never drop you, Aster.'

Aster swallowed as noiselessly as he was able, and huffed instead. 'Ye say that, but even ye can't control all the winds in the world,' he said. 'It's nothing about ye, Jack, it's not that I don't trust ye, but –'

'Bunny! It's okay, I'm not going to take you right now,' Jack said, tugging on Aster's hand. 'Right now, you need food. I know you didn't eat lunch, and I really doubt you ate breakfast. But you know,' Jack said, landing firmly on the ground, still holding on, 'Someday, we should do that.'

'Someday,' Aster echoed, a little stunned, and let Jack drag him physically towards the house. Shaking himself a little, he trotted up beside Jack and casually detangled their fingers. 'What do you want for tucker?'

'I already made food, Bun-bun,' Jack said with a long-suffering sigh. 'You didn't even notice me come back.'

Aster flattened his ears in embarrassment. 'Sorry about that,' he muttered. 'I get kind of wrapped up sometimes.'

'It's fine, Bunny,' Jack said, laying his hand on Aster's forearm. 'I'd tell you it was endearing if that wouldn't blow your already huge ego wider than the river ford.'

'Oi!' Aster said with a little shove, and they went on like that, eating and bickering and generally being quite childish, in Aster's opinion, but through it all, something lingered in Aster's mind.

Jack found him endearing, or at least his behaviour when he was gardening. Which was all the time.

Which meant nothing, he told himself fiercely as he lay in bed and his heart beat heavily against his ribcage, knowing Jack slept only a wall away. He was overthinking things. He always did.

He fell asleep fitfully, and when the blue, trembling dawn awoke him, he felt like hadn't slept at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So from now on, due to internet spontaneity (and also the fact THAT THIS THING IS ACTUALLY DONE BEING WRITTEN AHAHAHA) i'll be posting two chapters at a time. You have been warned.  
> ...oh god what have i done to myself


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the day, ladies and gents and people of either or neither persuasion.
> 
> Aster, please open your eyes. Just. Wow.

**CHAPTER 5**

  


It was sort of alarming, how easily they had settled into a routine in just two days. Aster awoke with the sun, and would leave fruit out for breakfast, and go to work in the fields. Jack would stagger out of the house, bleary-eyed and mussed, around ten o'clock, and take a seat in the tree nearest whatever Aster was doing. He would harass him, moving from tree to tree and directing the wind from a distance to carry messages, and generally make a secretly welcome nuisance of himself until noon, at which point he would drag Aster off for food. Aster would get the afternoon to himself, as Jack said something about getting in as much wandering as he could and disappeared for hours.

Aster thought he'd feel at peace when Jack was off exploring or whatever it was he was doing, but instead, he spent the hours tense and jumpy until Jack returned. He worried constantly; if Jack had found trouble with the animals that roamed the woods, or run across raiders, or had run into – whatever had happened to Chough's Landing. It was only when Jack's voice echoed over the fields, when he was in sight, when Aster knew he was safely curled up on the bed in his room – and it would never be just a guest room again, Aster knew – that he relaxed.

Jack would typically return before it got dark, and repeat the morning's schedule until dusk, at which point he'd remind Aster that he was a human being (albeit a very furry one) that needed regular sustenance, and make sure he ate dinner. They would then spend some time in the house before parting for the night. Aster would work on repairing tools or organising supplies, little things that needed doing but he had no other time for, and Jack would entertain himself with – of all things – knitting.

'Don't laugh,' Jack had warned the first time he pulled out his needles and yarn. 'Tooth taught me years ago, and it keeps people warm.'

'Not laughing, Jackie,' Aster had said, blinking innocently under Jack's suspicious glare. 'I just think it's very – domestic.'

He'd almost dodged the ball of yarn, but Jack's aim was excellent, and it pegged him right in the back of his head when he'd turned to flee.

In two days, Jack had so thoroughly ingrained himself into Aster's home that Aster wondered what it would be like when he left – and he would leave, there was no doubt of that. There was no reason for him to stay, save for the hidden affections of a man a decade his senior, and that was hardly something Aster intended to put on offer.

His house had felt empty in the absence of his parents, no matter how much time came to pass, and he couldn't stand the thought of returning to that hollow sensation when Jack took his lighthearted self on home.

Wishes had never changed anything, though, and Aster set himself to enjoying the few days this would last. With any luck, he thought as he deadheaded his foxglove patch on the third day, it would set a precedent of welcome for Jack, and he would come back to visit like this in years to come. Maybe, when he'd settled down as an older man, married a lovely woman and had tots of his own...

It would break Aster in two, but he'd always liked children. Maybe he'd make a good uncle.

He finished with the flowers and stood, casting his gaze around for the next thing to do. Anything had to be better than his current train of thought. He thought he'd maybe start cutting the boards for the woodshed – he planned to go into town for the nails and fittings the next day – when the wind wrapped herself around one of his ears and tinkled insistently.

'Have at,' he told her, and she nuzzled his ear gently before Jack's voice came out.

'Hey, Bunny! Are you busy right now?'

Aster looked around once more, and shrugged; there was, for once, nothing that could not wait. 'Not at the mo',' he said. 'Where are ye?'

'Out in the woods,' Jack said, and the sound of dead twigs snapping told Aster that he was walking. 'There's so many deer trails out here. Did you know there's a lake?'

'It's more of a pond, but yes,' Aster chuckled.

'Can you meet me there? I have a surprise.'

Aster raised his eyebrows at no one in particular, since the object of his expression was about two miles east. 'What kind of surprise, mate?' he asked.

'The good kind, I promise. I'll leave the Wind at the farm, she'll keep an eye out.'

'See, yer idea of a good surprise and me idea of a good surprise are rarely within cooee of each other,' he said, but he was curious despite himself. 'I'll be there in a bit.'

'Okay, see you soon,' Jack replied, and the wind ended the message. She nuzzled Aster once more – he supposed Jack hadn't been kidding when he said she liked him – before spiralling away, rustling the leaves of the nearest tree and taking up post.

'Be careful,' he called up to her, feeling a bit silly for doing it. What could hurt a wind, after all? But she chimed faintly in response, a noise he'd never heard her make before, and he thought it might be an assent.

Squaring his shoulders, he set off to the east, passing the peaceful fields of corn and newly seeded barley, millet and tobacco, which moved now only in the westerly breezes. It was a quick trot out to the pond, and before long, he could see Jack through the trees. He wore his blue hooded sweater today, much thinner than it looked and well-suited to summer. It was hand-knit by Toothiana: she had woven in little white snowflakes along the sleeves and hem, and Jack loved it. It was a bright, visible blue, and Toothiana had confided in Aster that she'd traded for the yarn because it was the precise blue of Jack's eyes.

'I was never going to get another chance at so perfect a dyed yarn,' she'd said when Aster had remarked on the new sweater a few weeks after she'd given it. 'I couldn't help myself.'

Aster could certainly understand that, and while it was absolutely lovely on Jack, he cursed Tooth in his head every time Jack wore it. It was hard to not look a little starstruck when Jack looked like that.

'Hey, Bunny!' Jack called, waving his free arm; in his other, he held his crook loosely. Aster suspected it wasn't so casual a grip as it looked, and made his way over.

'What's raging?' Aster asked, and Jack grinned at him.

'I wanted to show you what I've been practicing,' he said, and twirled the staff in his hands absentmindedly. Aster was glad it was on the other side, because he wasn't entirely sure Jack would have noticed it before it conked him in the head. 'Wanna see?'

'I don't rightly know what ye're on about,' Aster shrugged, 'But have at.'

Jack smiled like Aster had just handed him the sun, and leapt into the air, easy as breathing. 'You're going to love this,' he said, and then winked. 'Sorry, but you're going to get a little wet.'

'What does that mean?' Aster said, beginning to frown, but Jack only laughed and rocketed upwards.

Shading his gaze with a wide paw, Aster watched as Jack grew steadily smaller and smaller, going higher than Aster had ever seen (or thought quite advisable.) Then, Aster tensed; the sky was beginning to darken.

It took him longer than he was comfortable admitting to figure out what was going on; initially, he was just _panicked_. Jack caught in a flash summer storm, lightning deadly and endless in the sky, was a Jack who did not make it back to the ground. The thought was enough to have Aster leaping into the nearest tree, racing up into the high branches. He knew there was no way that was high enough, that at this distance Jack was unlikely to even hear him if he shouted, especially if it began to thunder, but it was all he could think to do.

Then, he figured it out, and fell stone-still.

Clouds formed slowly around the tiny dark dot that was Jack, gathering with ever increasing speed, until Jack was completely hidden in a roiling bank of dark clouds. A drop of rain fell onto Aster's brow, followed by another, and another; before he knew it, rain was sheeting down, and he was left gasping from the cold, clutching the tree in blinding revelation.

The rain had slowed some by the time Jack dropped out of the sky to hover at Aster's side, soaked to the bone and pleased as a croc in a river. 'What do you think?' He said cheekily, and Aster could only stare a moment.

'Ye made it rain.'

'Not for very long, unless I'm maintaining it,' Jack said breezily. 'But yep. I can make rain. And snowstorms, I bet, but it's too warm for the snow to last to hit the ground, and the ice water would be really bad for the farm.'

'Ye made it _rain_ ,' Aster repeated, still stuck on that. He'd heard of mutts like Phil, who could predict weather, and mutts who could redirect lightning, and control ocean waves, and even draw storms away or towards themselves. But he'd never heard of anyone who could create weather wholesale.

'Uh, yeah, thought we'd covered that,' Jack said, but his smile wavered. He dropped to land on the branch, his balance perfect as he hugged his staff to himself. 'You don't like it.'

'Don't like – Jack, this is absolutely ace,' Aster said, horrified at the vulnerable tone of Jack's voice, and the thought that he'd put it there. 'This is amazing, I've never heard anything like it.'

Jack was staring at him, and Aster couldn't tell if the pink on his face came from the cold rain water or – something else.

'Amazing, huh?' Jack asked, voice bizarrely _shy_ , like he couldn't believe Aster thought so.

'Course it is,' Aster assured, reaching out to pat Jack's shoulder. 'Ye made a rainstorm, Jack. No one else could've done that, I can't tell ye how impressed I am right now.'

Jack went a little more pink and shivered, something Aster did not miss.

'It is a bit cold, I'll grant ye,' Aster said. 'Come on, back to the house, some tea and blankets wouldn't go amiss, I don't reckon.'

'I'm not sick, Bunny,' Jack protested, but he was shivering again.

'I'd like to keep ye that way, mate,' Aster said. 'Now, are ye flying down, or do I have to carry ye there?'

'You couldn't carry me and climb down at the same time,' Jack said, assured in his assumption. 'I'll just fly, thanks.'

Aster's ears perked up at the challenge. He leaned back and eyed the ground twelve or so metres below, and said, casual as anything, 'Did I say anything about climbing, Jack?'

Before Jack could say anything, Aster reached over and scooped him up, bending to hook one arm behind his knees. With a grin that felt like it was probably too smug for his own good, Aster ignored Jack's yelp of surprise and said, 'Might want to hang on.'

Then he jumped.

Jack shrieked, latching on to Aster's neck with more strength than Aster had thought he had in him, and he buried his face in Aster's fur, muffling the scream. Timing it carefully, Aster tucked himself around Jack's body and rolled to lessen the impact of the wet ground, the grass soft beneath him as he sprang to his feet.

'Tada,' he said dryly.

'Oh my god,' Jack said, face still hidden in Aster's neck. 'Put me down, you _maniac_.'

Aster obliged, because now that the thrill of the challenge was passing, he realised what a monumentally stupid decision he'd just made. Not in the leap – there was no way he would have done it had it risked any actual damage to himself or to Jack – but in the possibly-not-conducive-to-his-plans way of holding Jack in his arms. If he kept this up, Jack would know within the week. 'Like ye're one to talk,' he said, setting Jack's feet on the ground. 'I still remember '68.'

'You swore up and down that no one could make you fly,' Jack said, standing on his own two legs but still clutching Aster's neck. 'What was I supposed to do, take that lying down?'

'Ye're a brat, Jack,' Aster said, but his voice was entirely too fond.

'Yeah, yeah,' Jack huffed out, his breath warm in Aster's soaked fur, and finally stepped back. 'Tea and blankets, huh?' he said, looking up at Aster with a grin beneath his limp wet hair.

'Tea and blankets,' Aster agreed.

  


'Best plan ever,' Jack said happily, wrapped in thick blankets and nursing a cup of tea.

'The storm?' Aster asked, towelling off his fur still; it had gotten quite muddy on the return back, and he'd been forced to dump a bucket of river water over his head to get out the worst of it.

'The tea and blankets after,' Jack said, and when Aster looked over, Jack was watching him. Jack grinned and sipped more tea. 'I like the cold, but cold and wet? Not so much.'

'Don't blame ye,' Aster said, tossing the towel off to the side and grabbing a cuppa for himself. He sat down in what he was coming to think of as his seat, across from Jack's, and was glad his back was to the fire; with the light shining in Jack's eyes, at least his expression would be hidden. It was a precaution he found himself taking as often as possible lately.

It was silent a moment, and then Jack blurted out, 'This place reminds me of home.'

Aster stared as, in the firelight, Jack pinked again. 'Like Nick's?' Aster asked, but he was pretty sure he knew what Jack meant.

'No, like where I lived before I came here.'

Aster sipped his tea, thinking. Jack had never really spoken about where he'd come from, other than the basics: that his mother and sister had moved out to a settlement in Aztlan, and he'd moved out east to Riverfield. Aster was pretty sure it was a sore subject, and had never pried, mostly because it would invite questions that he wasn't ready to answer yet about himself.

But this was an invitation if ever he'd heard one, and Jack seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so Aster set down his mug.

'How so?' he asked, and leaned back in his seat.

Jack was silent a moment more, but it wasn't taciturn; he was clearly gathering his thoughts, and Aster waited patiently, ears tilted forward.

'The lake – pond – is exactly like one that was near my old house,' Jack said at last, staring at his hands. 'And the fields, and the trees. They feel really similar. If it wasn't for the mountains, I'd think I was back there.'

'Is that a good thing?' Aster said, picking up his mug and drinking so he'd have something to do with his paws.

'It's a great thing,' Jack said, looking up. 'It's just – it's also a sad thing, yeah?'

'I get ye,' Aster murmured, and it was true. He loved this house, loved this farm, but sometimes it was hard to think only one person lived here, that no one hid around the corner and waited to be found. 'Do ye want to tell me about it? Yer home,' Aster clarified at Jack's glance.

Jack took a deep breath. 'I was born there,' he said slowly, as if trying out the words for the first time. 'It was a village called Burgess. Really small – like, it seemed big because I was little, but I don't think we'd ever had more than forty people living there? Riverfield is massive in comparison.'

Aster thought about how big it must have seemed to the small boy Jack had been when he'd arrived, big-eyed and white haired. Several hundred people made Riverfield their home, and it must have been a bit of a shock.

'It was really green, though,' Jack continued. 'Like, all the time. Everywhere. Even in winter, all of the trees were pines, so it was never dead the way the forests are way out west. And the pond froze over solidly, so we'd skate on it.'

Jack paused again, and his face became pained.

'Ye don't have to talk about it, if ye don't want to,' Aster said gently.

'No, I want to,' Jack said, but it was almost a whisper. 'It's just – hard.'

Aster weighed his need to keep his secrets against his need to provide comfort, and knew which he would favour almost before he thought about it. He stood, and gathered up their mugs. 'Come on, then,' he said when Jack looked up at him. 'Might as well go to the sitting room. Chairs are more comfortable.'

'Thanks, Aster,' Jack said, standing and clutching his blankets around him. He followed Aster through the hall and over to the other room, sitting on the couch Aster's sire had carved and sewn giant cattail-stuffed cushions for, and watched as Aster lit the fire in the hearth. May was winding down to a close, but evening was falling outside, and the touch of the cold rain still lingered, even once they were dry. Aster went to go sit in the armchair his sire had made to match the couch, but Jack's hand snaked out from his pile of blankets and snagged Aster's wrist.

'With me?' he said, voice quiet, and the need to provide comfort won out once more; Aster nodded, and sat beside Jack on the couch. 'Thanks.'

'Not a problem, Frostbite,' Aster said, turning to face Jack and tucking his knees up tight against his chest.

Jack snorted at the old nickname and turned away, settling himself against Aster's legs like he belonged there. It took everything Aster had to not try and squirm away when he realised that they were, essentially, cuddling.

'I was eleven,' Jack said, his voice turning heavy. 'My little sister and I, Emma – did I ever tell you her name is Emma?'

'No, ye haven't,' Aster said gently, and began to relax, muscle by muscle. 'I bet she looks just like ye.'

'Close,' Jack laughed, resting his head against Aster's knees. 'She's got brown hair, and these big brown eyes, just like Ma – you're lucky, man, you've never had to try to resist them. Not as big as Baby Tooth's, but like, twice as sad, when she wanted them to be. She was such a brat, oh my god.' Jack laughed again. 'She was a great kid. Still is, I bet.'

'If she's anything like ye, I doubt it,' Aster said, and Jack laughed again, hitting Aster's leg with a fist.

'You, you don't get any opinions,' Jack said, then continued, 'Anyway, it was winter – but towards the end. Mid-March. We wanted to go ice skating one last time before the thaw.'

Aster could see where this was going, but didn't interrupt, choosing instead to listen patiently.

'So there we are, skating away, and she hits a thin patch. My control wasn't so good back then, and I was shit scared, because what kid is thinking straight when something like that happens?' Jack's eyes were closed, what Aster could see of them from through Jack's hair. 'I've thought about it a million times. I should have just flown over, I should have tried to pick her up and drag her to the side, where it was safe.'

'Jack,' Aster said, and Jack nodded.

'I know. I could barely fly myself at the time, much less carry a whole other kid. I hadn't really figured out the whole Wind thing yet, either, so I couldn't call for help. And I couldn't thicken the ice right under her – panicked like I was, she would have just ended up an ice sculpture.'

Aster gave in to the urge that he'd been fighting since they'd sat on the couch, and wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders. He knew that this couldn't be mistaken for much else, this closeness and this comfort; mates didn't cuddle up next to each other on the couch like they were. But Jack clearly needed the comfort, because he sank further back into Aster's hold, tilting his head forward to rest his brow on Aster's arms.

'Really, it was a miracle Dad showed up when he did,' Jack said, his voice a little muffled. 'See, Emma was the spitting image of Ma, but she didn't get the flight. She could talk to the wind, lift me over her head, and sometimes, it would start to rain if she was upset. She loved – loves the water, would swim until she could breathe it if she could, but she couldn't so much as float off the ground. And Dad wasn't a flier. It didn't come from North's line, that's for sure. I got the flight and the wind, the water and the ice – but not the strength, not like Emma. Dunno if it would have helped.'

Aster just held on.

'So Dad shouts, “Jack, jump!” and I just – listen, because who doesn't listen to their dad when something like this happens? And he dashes out on the ice, and the ice cracks more, and he pushes it all out, drops Emma on the shore. But there was none left for him, nothing to stand on, so he went under.

'I'm pretty sure he wasn't thinking straight, either. He could have done it from the shore, I think. But he'd never been able to make ice, just move it, and his kid was out there. I would have done it, had I been thinking. I was so scared, Aster.

'And he didn't come back up.'

'God, Jack.'

'Yeah,' Jack said, exhausted and curled into Aster's hold. 'The village – dredged him out when it was warmer. We buried him. Then Ma decided to head somewhere warmer, and I... I think I looked too much like Dad for her to handle. I don't think she blamed me, but it was easier if she just... sent me to North.'

Aster squeezed Jack. There weren't really words for the story, none that he could say that weren't cheap and ultimately meaningless.

'Hence, I don't like the cold water,' Jack said, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. 'And why it's so weird to be out here.'

Aster swallowed, then tried to gently disentangle his arms from Jack's grip. 'If ye want to head back to town early, I wouldn't mind,' he said. 'I get it, Jack –'

'No!'

Aster blinked, and Jack tugged free, twisting around so that he was all but laying on Aster's legs. 'I don't want to go,' Jack said. 'That's not why I told you.'

'Alright, Jack, don't worry,' Aster said, holding up his paws in a gesture of universal surrender. 'I'm not making ye leave. I just – don't want ye unhappy for me farm's sake.'

'You think it's about the farm?' Jack said, and now he was scowling. 'Hang the farm! What if what happened at Chough's Landing happened to you?'

Aster stared at Jack, who stared right back.

'You're my best friend, Aster,' Jack said. 'I would freaking live out here, if it meant I knew you were safe. And I like the farm, I said that. It's just that it also reminds me of things that – I don't like thinking about.' Jack dropped his head on Aster's knees. 'Please don't make me go.'

'I said I wouldn't,' Aster said, careful not to touch Jack as he set his arms down on either side of himself. 'I – ye're me best friend too, ye have to know that.'

Jack snorted, the noise startlingly loud in the sudden quiet. 'I know that,' Jack said, face still planted firmly in the fur of Aster's knees. 'I just wasn't sure if you knew that.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Come on,' he said, giving Jack's shoulders a light shove. 'Ye look like death dropped ye on me doorstep. To bed with ye.'

'Don't want to go,' Jack mumbled. 'You're comfy.'

Aster ignored what that did to his chest, and pushed Jack again, to the same ineffect. 'That bed yer in love with is waiting for ye,' he said. 'Don't make me carry ye again.'

'You're way comfier than the bed,' Jack said, sounding half-asleep. The story had clearly worn him out. 'And warmer. I wanna sleep here.'

'Ye can't sleep here,' Aster said around his heart in his throat. 'Ye'll get a crick in yer neck.'

'Don't wanna be alone,' Jack murmured, but finally let Aster poke and prod him to his feet.

'Ye won't be, I'm the next room over,' Aster said, bundling the blankets tighter around Jack and gathering the abandoned mugs full of cold tea. 'I'm not going anywhere, Jack.'

'Too far away,' Jack whined, following Aster blearily into the kitchen and watching Aster rinse the mugs.

'Not far enough,' Aster muttered to himself, and turned – to see Jack's face fall, like Aster had punched him in the gut. 'No, not like that,' Aster said hastily. 'It's like – ye see, I...' He rubbed his forehead while Jack watched him. 'It's not a good idea, Jack,' he said at last. 'I shouldn't be close to...' he sighed. 'Anyone.' _Ye in particular_.

'Why?' Jack asked, showing signs of becoming less lethargic.

'Let's just say I'm a restless sleeper,' Aster deflected, and began to usher Jack back towards his room. 'Ye need sleep.'

'Okay,' Jack said, giving in. He looked at Aster, eyes hopeful and not nearly as tired as his body language would suggest, and added, 'Another time?'

'What, like a slumber party? Think we're a little old for that, mate,' Aster joked, standing outside Jack's door. 'Ye'll be right after some sleep, don't ye worry.'

Jack just looked at him, leaning up against the door jamb. 'I think we're too old for that, too,' he said, and Aster was clearly knocked for a loop after an emotional exchange like they'd had, because there was no way Jack meant that the way it sounded. 'Good night, Bunny.'

'Good – good night, Jack,' Aster said, stumbling a bit over the words.

Jack just gave him a smile, and shut his door behind him.

Aster swallowed, heart pounding, and went to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of the day, so please, if you could, read Chapter Five first. If you already have, why, don't worry your pretty little head about it.
> 
> And, um. This is where we veered off my original plotline into crazy land. Thank god. This story would have been horribly boring without it.

**CHAPTER 6**

  
  


'How long did ye practice to make it rain?' Aster asked, taking a break from grafting Granny Smith branches onto one of the Golden Delicious trees. He sat beneath the tree, and Jack hopped down to sit beside him. Neither of them had mentioned the night before.

'The past two years,' Jack said, shrugging. 'I finally got it about two months ago.'

That was a little boggling, that Jack – carefree, irresponsible Jack – had devoted that much time to any one thing.

Aster scratched his nose, and thought privately that neither carefree nor irresponsible really fit Jack anymore.

'Didn't you want to go into town today?' Jack asked idly, playing with the wind, and Aster swore. He'd forgotten completely in the bizarre bizzo that had been the day before.

'I did,' he said, and got to his feet. 'Coming with?'

'Sure,' Jack said, grinning and floating up without actually moving from his sitting pose. 'I wanted to pick something up, anyway.'

'And what would that be?' Aster asked, loping over to the house to find his supply bag. Jack followed at a more leisurely pace, still messing with the wind and whispering to it.

'More yarn,' he said. 'I'm running out of what I brought.'

'Ye and yer knitting,' Aster huffed, but it was fond.

'Me and my knitting,' Jack agreed, and smiled at Aster.

'Well, let's get going,' Aster said, tossing the supply bag over his shoulder. 'Ye good?'

'Always am,' Jack said, making Aster laugh, and they set off for the town.

Aster kept to his steady run, and Jack kept up without difficulty; they went in a comfortable silence that Aster had been terrified would be ruined by the events of the day before, but Jack seemed content – even a little pleased. Aster had no idea what that was about, and didn't go about being a stickybeak. Jack would tell him whatever it was when he was ready. Aster could wait.

They entered the town to a flurry of activity. Aster saw nothing wrong with it, until he caught Jack's frown. 'What's wrong?' he asked quietly.

'I don't know,' Jack said, floating a little higher, as if trying to get a clearer point of view. 'North didn't say anything yesterday morning. Whatever it was happened since then.'

Aster nodded at the sense of this, and opened his mouth to respond when a familiar, lilting voice shouted his name.

He turned, ears swivelling in the call's direction, and only just got his arms up in time to catch the girl as she flung herself at him, laughing.

'Katherine!' he said, swinging her around in a circle. 'Ye're here!'

'Aster, I'm so glad to see you!' Katherine gushed, the words she spoke floating around her head in blue-green transparency. The lights shone off of her wavy brown hair, and her grey eyes were sparkling with a light all their own. 'It's been so long!'

'Two years, if I'm reckoning right,' he said, and set her down.

'And Jack! Just look at you!' she added, whirling to face him. 'You've grown so much, my goodness.'

'Hi, Kath,' Jack said, smiling and dropping to the ground for a hug. 'How have you been?'

Instead of answering him immediately, her face grew dark, and she began to tap her fingers against her hip in a way Aster hadn't seen before. 'I've been better,' she said at last. 'Come on, we should go to Nick's.'

'Is Nightlight with you?' Jack asked, stepping lightly back up into the air.

Katherine shook her head, her expression still heavy. 'We split up,' she said. 'Safer that way.'

'Safer?' Aster said, his ears twitching.

'I'll explain at Nick's,' she evaded. 'Come on.'

Aster followed her, watching quietly as she and Jack traded chatter to cover their nerves. His own were practically shot, and his ears wouldn't stay still, flicking this way and that, tracking every noise he heard. Katherine and Nightlight had been attached at the hip for as long as Aster could remember – she looked young, but she was older than Aster. That they had judged it safer to travel separately where they'd always stuck together was... disconcerting.

They entered Nick's house, Aster flattening his ears to save himself the trouble of ducking, and Katherine closed the door behind them.

Aster hadn't been inside the house in years, and it remained as claustrophobia-inducing as ever: narrow halls, narrow rooms, and ceilings that felt much lower than they were. Nick had amassed quite the collection of relics from the Before, and they were displayed on every spare inch of shelving. Aster as a kit had constantly worried that he would break everything in sight; Aster as an adult knew he would, and so stepped very, very carefully.

Katherine and Jack moved through the cramped halls with the grace of years' worth of practice. Katherine was Nick's adopted sister, and her memory was excellent – she never stumbled, not once, though Aster thought a few times she might have whispered to the knickknacks and gotten them to move out of her way.

They arrived at last in the only open room in the house, and Aster breathed a little easier. Nick's workshop was wide and full of windows, and the man himself seemed to be waiting for them, sitting at a table that Aster thought might have been carved from a single block.

'Good, you are here,' he said. 'We were not sure if we would see you before week was over!'

'I have to pick something up,' Aster said, taking a seat. 'Theold's been flat out lately, needed some time to finish up me order.' Jack took the seat to his left, and Katherine sat beside Nick. 'What's the drum?'

'Katherine arrived last night,' Nick explained, steepling his fingers and staring at Aster intently, like his face might hold the answers to his problems. 'She is tired, of course, and I am being good brother, I send her to bed. But I am noticing, no Nightlight. I am concerned.'

'I can understand that,' Aster said.

'She wakes up, we have breakfast, was very pleasant. But my sister, she is quiet. Very unusual for my sister.'

'Excuse me,' Katherine said, scowling.

'In nicest way, of course,' Nick assured her. 'You simply have many important things to say. It makes sense, you are not always quiet.'

Katherine rolled her eyes and gave Aster a look that probably said something like _brothers, am I right_?, but as Aster was an only child, he could just about shrug, and that was it.

'So my sister, she looks at me and says, Nightlight has gone west. I ask why? She tells me what happened in Chough's Landing is happening elsewhere.'

Aster flinched, and Jack's hand shot out, grabbing onto his arm and holding tightly.

'What do you mean, elsewhere?' Jack asked, fingers tangling in Aster's fur.

'I mean, when Nightlight did a flyby,' Katherine sighed, 'he found two other towns missing within, what, a hundred mile radius of Chough's Landing? Mickland and Fairton,' she elaborated at Aster's look. 'Both small towns, both out of the way, both completely gone. Exactly like Chough's Landing.'

'Fuck,' Jack said, with feeling, and Aster agreed.

'How did we not know about that?' Aster asked, looking to Nick. 'I mean, I know ye're not in contact with them the way ye are with Mt. Sheafer, but _someone_ should've noticed, mate.'

'That is what is concerning me, also,' Nick said, and his knuckles looked as white as his beard. 'Is almost as if towns were wiped from memory, as well as planet. Only remembered when found again.'

'So what ye're saying,' Aster said slowly, 'is that we might not even know how many places this has happened to?'

'Exactly,' Nick said, and he gave both Aster and Jack a steady, solemn look. 'We are not telling this to townspeople, for obvious reason. We tell you because you, Bunny, are out of town, and need to be on guard. I wish we could spare more people to patrol, but is far, and you could get word to us faster than any of the people on guard duty at current.'

Aster nodded. What Nick was saying was true, and he'd take the unease of knowing what was happening over being caught unawares.

'Why did Nightlight go west, though?' Jack asked, frowning.

'Once we started asking questions,' Katherine said, 'people started finding more of the towns. I sent word to Ombric about two weeks ago, but I haven't heard back.'

'Mt. Sheafer has isolated itself,' Nick said gravely. 'They are thinking, if no one can reach them, no one can hurt them.'

'But then no one will be able to help, either,' Katherine pointed out, and Nick sighed.

'I know,' he said, laying his massive hand atop Katherine's much smaller one. 'But it was town vote. Ombric will never go against town vote.'

'But why west?' Jack insisted.

'When other people started finding them, news reached us pretty quickly that the farther west you go, the more towns people were finding,' Katherine shrugged. 'Apparently, no one's heard anything from farther west than the Sierras for about a month.'

Aster glanced over at Jack, who had gone paler than he already was, if that was possible. 'What about – about Aztlan?' he said, his voice very quiet.

Katherine's eyes widened, and when she began to curse, the words around her head took on a distinctly purple hue.

'My ma,' Jack said, turning to Aster. 'Emma.'

'We don't know anything's gone wrong, Jack,' Aster said, desperate to comfort, and knowing nothing would. 'For all we know, there's just an shortage of towns to pass any message on.'

'But –'

'Jackson,' Nick said loudly, and Jack's eyes snapped to him. 'Do not panic,' Nick continued, voice kind but firm. 'Panic will get you nowhere. Messages take long time to arrive from Aztlan –'

'We haven't heard from them since January, North,' Jack interrupted. 'It doesn't take five months. It would have taken two to get our reply there, and two, maybe two and a half, to get one back since the letter carriers aren't fliers. We should have had word weeks ago! It's almost June!'

'Jack, please,' Nick said placatingly. 'We will send another message –'

'That will take too long!' Jack interrupted. 'I'm going to find them.'

Silence followed his pronouncement. Nick looked like he was trying to find words to make Jack stay, but was having difficulty; Katherine was watching Jack as if he was a cornered, frightened animal. Aster took a deep breath, and disentangled Jack's hand from his fur. When Jack looked at him, wounded, Aster took his hand carefully. Jack's gaze softened, and while there was still some fear – what if this was overstepping a boundary, what if this was too obvious, what if it ruined everything – it was tiny compared to the fear of what would happen if Jack left.

'Okay,' Aster said, 'But ye gotta wait a week.'

'A week?' Jack said, frowning. 'Why? I can be out of here by tonight, and if I fly as fast as I can, I can make it in maybe –' he visibly did some mental math. 'Top speed? Maybe two weeks.'

'Because I need to get the farm settled for as long as it will take for us to get to Aztlan,' Aster said, and endured the three identical stares that landed on him.

'You – you're coming with me?' Jack said, blue eyes wide and childlike in his surprise.

'I'm the only one who can keep up with ye,' Aster said reasonably, 'and I'm not going to let ye just wander off in the middle of all this by yerself. Yer me cobber, I'm not coldhearted.'

'But – it's far,' Jack said. 'And I'm a flier, that's going to be hard to deal with –'

'Jack, I run faster than ye can fly, and if ye think ye can get me to stay behind, then ye'll just have to deal with me running after ye,' Aster snapped. 'And I won't be chuffed about it, I'll tell ye that for free.'

'They need you here,' Jack said.

'Ye need me more,' Aster shrugged. 'Sides, I can handle an early harvest.'

Jack jerked away. 'No way, Aster,' he said, scowling now. 'You try something that big, you won't be awake for next week.'

'Bunny,' Nick interrupted, and both Aster and Jack started; Aster had forgotten that both Nick and Katherine were in the room. 'What is it you are planning?'

'I plan to speed up me crops,' Aster explained. 'All of them at once. Then the town can harvest the food early, put it in storage, and I can leave the farm without worrying.'

'You can do that?' Nick said, frowning. 'All of them?'

'Not without knocking himself out!' Jack snarled. 'And don't think I didn't notice the faces you made last week, Bunny, I'm not dumb! It doesn't just make you tired, it _hurts_ you!'

Aster hunched a bit; he wasn't a good liar, never had been. His only real defence against what was now happening was making sure no one suspected in the first place. He'd gone and bodged it up last week, letting Jack stay when he'd just sped up the barley and potatoes. Of course Jack had noticed.

'Not really,' Aster mumbled. 'It's – it's just heavy, is all. It's a lot to pull up at once,' he said, when it had been silent a moment. 'The – whatever it is, the life, that I use. It doesn't hurt me. I just have a lot to pull up.'

'It hurts you, Bunny?' Nick said, and his voice had taken on a low, dangerous tone that made Aster hunch over more.

'No, it's more like – a strain, like carrying weight,' he said to the table. 'It just tires me out, makes me sore.'

'And you never told anyone?' Katherine asked, and he looked up, startled. She was watching him with compassion and – admiration, he thought. But that couldn't be right.

'Why, if this is the response it gets?' Aster huffed, dropping his gaze again. 'All it would do is make people worry, and god knows ye lot worry more than ye ought. It's not a bum deal, doing me part to make sure the town is well.'

Nick looked solidly uncomfortable when Aster chanced a squizz, and Jack still looked furious.

'It's the only way,' Aster said, lifting his head; fine, so people knew. He'd muddle through. It wouldn't stop him doing what was necessary. 'Both all those other times, and this time. If the farm's all kitted out, I don't have to worry.'

'I don't want you to come with me,' Jack said sharply.

'Sorry, Jack,' Aster said, not looking at him. 'But it isn't really yer choice anymore. Either ye let me come with ye, or I follow ye anyway.'

Jack made a disgusted noise, and shoved his seat away from the table. 'Fine, you stubborn asshole,' he hissed. 'Fine. But if you kill yourself trying this, I'll kill you myself.'

He turned and stalked out of the room, leaving Aster alone with Katherine and Nick.

Katherine was watching him again, her grey eyes curious, and he stood up with a sigh. 'I still need to stop by Theold's,' he said. 'Tell the townsfolk harvest is in two days.'

'What should they be told, as to why?' Nick asked, drumming his fingers on the table in much the same way as Katherine had done earlier in the street.

Aster huffed out a laugh that sounded less mirthful and more mournful. 'Family emergency,' he said, and left the house.

  
  


'That's it,' Theold said, wrapping up the package of nails and handing them to Aster.

'Thanks, mate,' Aster said, dropping it in the supply bag beside the packaged fittings. 'You're a lifesaver.'

Theold harrumphed. 'Go on. Get,' he said. 'I have work to do. You, take care of yourself.'

'Will do,' Aster agreed, and left the shop. He stood in the street, watching the bustle, and frowned; if no one knew what news Katherine had brought, then why, he wondered, was everyone rushing around?

'Pardon me,' he said to a passing woman who had a beaky nosed, wide eyed child on each hand.

'Hello, Mr. Bunnymund,' she said, sounding a bit rushed. Her children blinked up at him owlishly, and he struggled to remember her name. 'Can I do anything for you?'

'I was just wondering,' he said, adjusting his bag uncomfortably, 'what's got the town so lively today? Seems like everyone's out and about,' he explained at her blank look. 'Normally it's a bit quieter.'

'Oh, that,' she said, and smiled. 'There's been some rumours flying around – absolutely unfounded, I assure you, I heard it from Mr. Punxsutawny himself – that there's a big old storm system coming up from the southwest.' She shrugged her shoulders, the movement restricted by her children's grasp on her hands. 'Everyone's trying to get supplies together. Might flood the river, goes the rumour, but Mr. Punxsutawny hasn't been wrong yet this year. My Harold is fretting nevertheless, so I ought to get going, terribly sorry –'

'No, that's alright, Mrs. Noorey,' he said, recalling her name at last. 'Thanks for yer help.'

'Any time, Mr. Bunnymund, any time at all!' she said with a warm smile. 'Don't know where we'd be without you in town, so it's no trouble! Take care!'

He started, taken aback, but she was already bustling off, her children in tow.

'Well, I'll be stuffed,' he said, and set out of town.

He'd only just reached the part of the road where the trees began to thicken – no more than a mile along his way – when he heard someone shouting.

'And where do you think you're going?' Jack called to him, his tone acidic as he flew to catch up. He held his staff in his right hand and a dark blue bag in his left, and the bag swung heavily when Jack came to a stop.

Aster held his breath for a moment, before releasing it slowly. 'I was heading home,' he said. 'Is there something ye need, Frostbite?'

'Don't you 'Frostbite' me, Aster,' Jack snapped. 'What, you couldn't come back and tell me you were leaving?'

Aster stared. 'I didn't think ye'd want me to, after our blue,' he said at last.

Jack's scowl faded, and left a weary look in its wake. 'I'm sorry,' he said, dropping to the ground. 'God, I'm an asshole.'

'What?'

'I said I'm an asshole,' Jack snorted. 'Come on, with ears like that? You can hear me.'

'Why are ye an asshole?' Aster asked, beginning to walk again; beside him, Jack walked too, shuffling his bare feet through the dust of the road.

'First I blew up at you at my house, and now I just yelled at you again,' he said. 'You're just – trying to help.' He looked over at Aster, and his gaze was downright miserable. 'You're always... you're always trying to help me out, and I keep fucking it up.'

'Ye're fine, Jack,' Aster said, and reached out, cuffing Jack gently in the back of his head. 'Come on, don't get in a mood about it. Ye're entitled to a bit of assholery, after news like that.'

Jack nodded, but he didn't look like he agreed. A silence fell between them, and they walked through the forest. Aster didn't try to move any faster, and Jack didn't take to the air. They kept each other company, almost three hours of quiet, until they were almost free of the trees and the farm was in sight.

Aster sighed. 'I'm sorry, too, Jack,' he said. 'I know ye don't like the – the speeding up, and I know ye don't want me to go with ye to find yer family.'

'It's not that I don't want you to go,' Jack mumbled. 'I just think you'd be safer here.'

'Not if I crack me head open while running, distracted by worrying if yer alright,' Aster said. 'And I would. Don't doubt that.'

'You worry that much?' Jack said, looking over at Aster.

'About ye?' Aster said, smiling a little ruefully. 'More than just about anything else.'

'I can take care of myself,' Jack protested, but it wasn't as defensive as it might have been.

'I know ye can,' Aster said. 'But even I wouldn't set off to Aztlan alone, mate. Ye'll need backup. Let me be that.'

'You're literally the only person I would,' Jack said, smiling, and it was so sweet that it took Aster a moment to realise that he'd stopped walking. 'What?' Jack said. He looked at Aster curiously, and for the first time, Aster felt a glimmer of frustration; how could someone be so oblivious for so long? Aster had all but said the words by now.

Then, he remembered how badly it would go if Jack _wasn't_ oblivious, and thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't botched the whole thing yet.

'Nothing, Frostbite,' he said, and started walking again. 'I'm going to do the gardens tonight, and the rest of the farm tomorrow.'

'Any way I can help?' Jack asked, and when Aster looked over again, Jack looked as determined to do this as he'd looked at Nick's, declaring his intent to go get his family back.

'Ye can make sure I don't topple over,' Aster conceded. 'This one's gonna be bigger than almost anything I've ever done.'

'Almost?'

'I'll tell ye the story another time,' Aster said, heart stuttering in his chest, and not from – well, not from Jack. There was a lot of pain down that road, and he wasn't ready to talk about it. Might never be.

'Okay,' Jack said, and drifted over, laying his hand on Aster's shoulder. They walked the rest of the way to the farm like that, and Aster was content in it.

He could tell it was going to be awhile before he was content again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to the dear reviewer who said Aster was in denial two chapters ago; he wasn't then. He still isn't now. He's just remarkably, blessedly dumb. Look upon his endless obliviousness and weep.
> 
> (thank god Jack's smarter than the average bear)  
> (not by much, but still)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the day.
> 
> Please recall, if you would be so kind, that Aster is merely dumb. Jack, however, is getting smarter by the minute.
> 
> also the tagline for this damn thing should be 'how many times can proser make someone nap in a single fic: the challenge'

**CHAPTER 7**

  
  


His dam bore the brunt of the town's distrust, in the beginning.

She wasn't an animutt like Aster, or his sire; she looked as human as it was possible to, her eyes a soft grey like the underside of evening clouds, her hair wheat-gold and rippling, her skin like pale dirt in the wake of winter. Aster didn't know when he was a tiny kit why that was a bad thing. Though he would later be unable to recall the memories, in his birth town in Australia, it was actually pretty common for a mutt and an animutt to marry one another. Australia had a lot of animutts, actually, and it would have been pretty difficult for anyone to be happy if they only married the people who looked like themselves.

But in Normerica, at least towards the east, animutts weren't as common. They certainly existed, and fit into the landscape, and maybe that made it easier for other mutts to deal with – that they all looked like animals who belonged there. Bears and owls, deer and beaver, they all lived pretty normally. Even rabbit animutts existed – none in Riverfield, but they were around.

But Aster's sire was different, because he didn't look precisely like any rabbit anyone around here had seen. He looked like a couple things mixed together, actually. His tail looked like it belonged on a fox, and his pelt's colour only added to the effect; he had claws that hooked wickedly and could cut through wood, so unlike Aster's own short thick nails, and his nose was more pointed. Even his teeth were sharp, the canines in stark relief beside his large incisors.

And it was the strangeness of Aster's sire that made his dam so untrustworthy.

Here was a normal woman, strange though her accent was, and she was content to live out in the dangerous valley, where there was no town to protect her, with this bizarre animutt and their equally bizarre child.

Had anyone told Aster, he would have laughed. There were way better reasons to be scared of his dam, he'd tell you. She had a scary voice when she yelled, and always knew when Aster misbehaved. She knew exactly how many apples were on any given tree, and woe to the kit who tried to sneak some before dinner! She also had no qualms with making Aster stay inside when he got in trouble, and to the lively kit, it was torture.

Had anyone asked Aster's sire, he would have rolled his eyes, because his wife was more than capable of being frightening. After all, only Evergreen could have told you the way flowers and leaves and stalks and vines seemed to press under the surface of her skin, and move as if alive. Only Evergreen could have told you of the dangerous overland journey to settle in Riverfield, where more than one raider's bones could still be found, encased in a living oak coffin. And only Evergreen knew exactly why they'd left Australia in the first place.

Other than Helena, of course, and as neither of them were telling, it just made them more mysterious.

Helena was a genial woman, though, and soon the town could barely remember a time when they'd treated her coldly. She worked her farm and raised her child and provided a much needed source of food for everyone. She was always willing to lend a hand, and often walked the long distance into town to do so.

The town could barely remember, but Helena could. And the earth was patient, endlessly patient, and could wait for aeons. So too could Helena. She wasn't one much disposed to revenge, on the whole, but she made exceptions for how people treated her loved ones.

So she moved subtly. She would make the town that once tried to reject them into a town that relied upon them. She raised her child, and lent a hand, and taught Aster everything she knew, and befriended the townsfolk.

She would never know how deep her revenge would reverberate, once it was visited on the townsfolk. Had she known, she would have smiled with satisfaction, and the plants that always seemed to lurk just beneath her surface would tremble with joy.

The town that initially despised her and her kin were finally facing the consequences of it all, a plan twenty three years in the making and fourteen years in the waiting at last coming to fruition.

  
  


Aster had never done this in front of anyone other than his dam or his sire before, and it made him nervous, crouched as he was in the centre of his gardens beside a particularly sprightly squash plant. Jack looked on, wary and intent, and Aster wished he would look elsewhere. He felt like a show pony like this.

'It might look worse than it actually is,' Aster warned. 'I dunno, never watched it from the outside before.'

'What do I do if it starts to look like it's going wrong?' Jack asked, morbidly curious.

Aster chuckled dryly. 'Might want to fly up, maybe? It's never gone wrong before,' he explained when Jack made a rude noise at him. 'Me dam – well, she never got it wrong that I know of, and neither have I. Not likely to start happening now.'

'But like – if you look hurt, or whatever.'

'Wait for me to stop? Ye might cause trouble if ye try to interrupt it, Frostbite,' Aster said. 'Couldn't tell ye for sure. Just – don't interfere, and ye'll be fine, I think.'

'Okay, Bunny, you're the boss,' Jack said, and couldn't have sounded more unsure if he'd been actively trying to.

Aster huffed a bit, then dug his paws into the dirt. 'Here goes,' he said, and began to pull.

The earthblood answered, like she always did, and let herself be tugged up to the surface; it was about the same amount that he'd pulled on the week before, because the gardens were about the size of the potato field and the barley field combined.

An ache settled into his muscles, and he grit his teeth, straining against gravity with all he had until there was enough. He let go of the rest, and it pulsed in farewell, dripping away from his fingers like water, or oil, and sinking into the earth.

Beneath him, hovering and rippling just under the dirt, the life magic waited for his directions. He laughed a bit under his breath, the tired ache in his muscles feeling less exhausting and more like a good day's hard work. 'Have at,' he told it, spreading his fingers wide beneath the loam, and like an excited pet, it leapt to its work.

Up the roots it climbed, into the stalks and leaves and flower buds, and exploded outward. Each plant had its own maturation time, and he could see it all in his head, at once separate and a beautifully cohesive whole, like stained glass from the Before, mosaic and vibrant. Some plants, like the tomatoes, needed only a few weeks to reach their glowing prime. Others, like the pumpkins and the peppers, the marijuana and the small patch of wine grapes, needed months of time, and sucked the magic in greedily. Though his eyes were closed, he could see all the life around him, advancing and ripening and _singing_ , with a high glee he'd only heard once before, when his dam had grown an oak tree in an afternoon. It was intoxicating.

Slowly, the reservoir of magic he'd pulled up was wicked away into the hungry plants, and he opened his eyes to paradise. All around him was life at its peak, and they swayed towards him, the little voices he hadn't heard since his childhood and had been convinced he'd made up speaking to him once more. He sat down in the dirt, breathing hard. Their voices told him about the way the sunlight felt on their leaves, the rich wet earth, the river that ran not too far away, the bugs they liked and the ones they despised, the birds that carried their seeds far and wide –

'Aster?'

Aster jerked, nearly toppling onto his back trying to look at Jack. He'd forgotten for a moment Jack was there at all.

'Yeah?' he said, his voice a little weak.

'Is this what it felt like, when you watched me make it rain?' Jack asked, and his voice was a little weak, too, like something had been taken out of him.

'What do ye mean?' Aster said as he gave in and flopped onto the ground.

'I was terrified,' Jack said, floating over and settling down beside Aster, sitting cross-legged near his head. 'But so, so glad that I saw it.'

Aster blamed the tiredness for the way he turned his head and rested his brow against Jack's leg. 'Exactly like that,' he muttered.

Jack's hand came down and began to gently stroke the back of Aster's head. Aster didn't notice when he fell asleep, focussed as he was on the sensation of Jack's hands on his fur and the voices of the plants speaking at last.

  
  


Aster awoke to the chill touch of a late May evening. The sun had clearly set already, and though his body was cold, his head was warm where it rested on something soft. For a reason he couldn't precisely pinpoint, the world felt quiet, as if there was a sound he should be hearing that was no longer there.

'Up already, Cottontail?' Jack's voice asked.

'A'ready?' Aster asked, turning his face into the warm softness. 'It's dark out.'

'Yeah, but only just,' Jack said. 'Come on, if you're going to conk out again, might as well get you to bed. Besides, my leg's asleep.'

Aster froze, realising just what his head was resting on.

He sat up, nearly falling over to the other side in his hurry to remove himself from Jack's lap, and Jack laughed fondly. 'Thank god I don't have to walk,' he said, rising into the air and holding out a hand. 'Must suck to have to always be on the ground.'

'I like it well enough,' Aster said fuzzily, and let Jack help him to his feet.

'You don't know any better,' Jack said, and actually sounded pitying. 'Let's go before you fall over again.'

Aster was led through the gardens back towards the house, and as they passed, the plants swayed towards them. 'They've been doing that the whole time,' Jack said. 'It's really sweet, actually. I've never been nuzzled by a carrot plant before, but hey! First time for everything.'

Aster chuckled, and let Jack's chatter wash over him. When they entered the house, it was dark – no lights. Aster made some noise about lighting the lamps, and Jack shushed him.

'No, we're good,' Jack said, and didn't stumble once as he made his way through Aster's house, as if he'd been living there his whole life.

The thought struck Aster funnily, and as Jack opened the door to Aster's room, he said 'Are ye living here now?'

Jack paused, and Aster nearly walked into him.

Aster waited for an answer, and for Jack to move, because bed sounded bloody amazing right about now.

'You would want me to?' Jack asked.

Aster twitched his ears forward to better hear Jack's voice, quiet and vulnerable. He opened his mouth to say something, but lost the words in a great yawn that cracked his jaw and nearly sent him to the floor.

Jack snorted as he steadied Aster. 'What am I talking about, you're so tired you won't remember any of this.'

'Prob'ly not,' Aster admitted. 'I don' remember things when I get knackered like this.'

Jack tugged him in the direction of his bed, and Aster went willingly, collapsing onto the familiar mattress. The cattail fluff that he restuffed every year was soft beneath his body.

Jack's voice was very soft in the darkness. 'If you'd let me, I'd never leave.'

Aster snuffled a bit into his pillow as he turned in the direction of the voice. 'That'd be nice,' he sighed, and burrowed further into the bed. 'If ye'd never leave.'

He was barely able to note the warmth that settled on the mattress beside him before he was out of consciousness once more.

  
  


Aster awoke when the sun was already up, which was strange.

Also strange was how little pain he was in. Normally, after something like he'd done the evening before, he'd be struggling to even _want_ to move, much less do it. Instead, it felt like he'd just worked a bit too hard the day before, and he'd even dare to say the ache was a little pleasant.

Strangest, though, was how warm he felt. His house certainly wasn't cold, though it tended to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. He tended to sleep without blankets until the snows came, his fur more than enough to keep him warm, but this was different. This was a warmth that sank down to his bones and hummed beneath his skin.

He turned his head towards the sun, eyes still closed, and paused when the warmth moved, tightening a bit around his middle.

_Oh, no,_ he thought slowly, and opened his eyes.

Sprawled half atop him and half to his left, between him and the door, was Jack, fast asleep. His breathing was quiet, but with a faint whistle that Aster was certain would someday turn into a snore. His arm was wrapped over Aster's middle and his hand tucked underneath, the fingers settled comfortably against Aster's lower back, and his head was pillowed on Aster's chest, his white hair looking at home on the pale fur there.

Aster felt like his heart had stopped, because it wasn't just Jack who'd held on somewhere in the night: his own arm was slung over Jack's shoulders, holding him in place.

'Shit,' Aster whispered, and Jack stirred.

Yawning hugely, Jack sat back, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Aster held very still, entertaining an impossible hope that Jack wouldn't notice him, but Jack's eyes opened and fell, blue and aware, upon Aster's.

'Oh, morning, Bunny,' Jack said, yawning again. 'Guess I fell asleep in here. Whoops.' He floated his way off the bed and towards the door. 'Do you have any more raisin bread?'

Aster was torn between sighing in relief and knocking his head against the wall; ultimately, he settled for answering, 'After ye've been here the past few days? I'll be lucky to have any bread left,' and getting up to follow him.

'What, none?' Jack said, hovering into the kitchen before plopping onto his chair. 'I could have sworn there was some left yesterday.'

'Bread, or raisin bread?'

'Both,' Jack answered, sounding certain.

'Then why'd ye ask, dropkick?' Aster huffed.

'Because I want you to get it for me,' Jack said shamelessly, and laughed at the look on Aster's face.

Grumbling, Aster went and gathered food, bread and fruit and the now-ubiquitous tea. Jack bit happily into a pear as Aster put the billy on, and hummed a tune Aster didn't know under his breath.

'Want one?' Jack asked, wiggling his fingers, and a little breeze – the wind, Aster realised – caught up another pear and sent it bobbing gently in Aster's direction.

Aster caught it, and the wind wrapped herself around his wrist, a constant sensation of movement. 'Good morning to ye, too,' he chuckled, and she chimed again, instead of her usual tinkling.

'Wow, Bun-bun,' Jack said, and when Aster looked over, Jack's eyes were wide. 'She _loves_ you.'

'Must be me animal magnetism,' Aster said dryly, and Jack laughed, long and loud.

Breakfast passed in peace, Jack quietly eating his food and Aster sipping his tea. The wind stayed around Aster's wrist, periodically making the chiming noise and pressing closer. Jack would laugh every time she did it.

'Alright,' Aster said when it looked like Jack was finishing with his food. 'I should do the rest of it, so it's ready for tomorrow.'

Jack tensed. 'Are you sure you can handle it?' he asked, playing with the stem off his pear. 'I mean, I know you can handle it, but – how are you feeling?'

Aster thought about it, because he knew Jack needed him to. He didn't feel particularly tired, he thought. The night's rest had done him good, more good than it usually did. His joints ached a little, but much less than before, and there was a frenetic energy in his muscles that ached to do something, to move, to lift, to strain.

'Reckon I feel better than I should,' Aster said, and shrugged. 'Not one to have tickets on meself, but I don't think today'll give me much trouble.'

'It's a lot, though,' Jack said, shredding the stem slowly. 'Like, a mile of land, or more. That's – that's a lot, Bunny.'

'I know,' Aster said, trying to sound soothing and not sure if he'd succeeded. 'But that's why ye'll be there, make sure I don't bodge it up too bad.'

'How am I supposed to do that?' Jack asked, looking up. 'Yesterday, you said I shouldn't interfere.'

'And ye shouldn't,' Aster answered firmly. 'But if I happen to, ye know, take a bit of a nap...'

'Knock yourself into a coma, you mean,' Jack snorted.

'Aye, that,' Aster nodded, 'then ye'll keep watch until I wake up again. Drag me arse to bed, if I'm not waking up.'

'If you don't wake up within eight hours, I'm getting Tooth,' Jack warned.

'Probably good oil, to be honest,' Aster said, but winced at the thought of how much yelling he was going to sit through if that happened.

'Don't worry, Bun-bun, I'll take care of you,' Jack smiled, and the wind around Aster's wrist chimed again. 'Might have trouble separating her, though, if she needs to run a message.'

'She'll do what's right,' Aster said, and held up his arm, his rippling fur the only way he could see Jack's wind. 'She's like her – what, master?'

'She's not really a pet,' Jack said, watching Aster with a soft grin. 'More like a friend, maybe? Or a little sister, but not really.'

'She's like her friend, then,' Aster finished. 'She'll do what's right. Won't ye, little miss?' he asked the wind directly, and she chimed twice in a row before detaching herself. 'Will ye look at that,' Aster marvelled.

'She doesn't listen to anyone else,' Jack said. 'Not around here. Just you.'

'Glad to have her approval,' Aster said, and stood. 'Not sure I'd like it if she didn't like me.'

'Definitely not,' Jack agreed, and followed Aster out of the room. 'You wouldn't believe how many times Phil has gone out and found his wood pile scattered on his yard, I can't imagine why anyone would do that.'

Aster laughed, and the wind brushed by his ears before going up and messing with some of the trees. 'Alright,' he said, watching the wind. 'Are ye ready, Frostbite?'

'Always, Bun-bun,' Jack said, and stepped up to stand beside him as he crouched down. His paws dove into the earth, and Jack's hand settled on his shoulder.

He closed his eyes, and the earthblood took notice, answering more readily to his call than it had yesterday. For the first time, he felt it surge up to meet him, instead of patiently awaiting his touch; that did not make it lighter, and what he wanted now was more than he'd almost ever used, more than he was sure even his dam had ever called on. It was like trying to drag an entire lake up a mountainside. He worried that it was an impossible task, doing this much at once, and thought that maybe he could have done a handful of fields at a time.

He was committed to this course now, though, and he'd never been able to go back on it once he'd begun. The earthblood climbed up and up, and Aster ground his teeth together. It hurt. It hurt more than it ever had, more than he'd known it could. It was hard to not make a noise, but his muscles felt like they were tearing, and his spine felt like it would snap –

And with a sensation like a bone popping back into place, he had enough. He let go of the rest of it immediately, slumping from his crouched position to his knees, resting his weight on his forearms.

'Aster!'

'I'm okay,' Aster gasped out, the breath like fire in his lungs. 'I'm okay, I promise ye.'

Jack's hand was warm, where it lay between Aster's shoulder blades, and it rubbed strong circles into the fur there. 'Are you sure? You just – collapsed.'

'M still talking, ain't I?' Aster huffed. Beneath him, the earthblood pooled, warmer and deeper than ever it had before. 'Hold on, Jack,' he said, and managed to find the strength to push his paws deeper into the earth. 'All of it,' he whispered to the dirt underneath. 'All the fields, and the trees.'

The earthblood answered.

Pulsing out in great waves, it spread, and like the day before, the plants took it in greedily – the tobacco field sprouting green, the corn shooting up, the wheat he'd seeded in the barley field's place bursting into golden waves of life. The trees grew heavy with fruit and the flower fields he kept for Tooth were bright red, the poppies swaying in the breeze.

Then, the earthblood pushed out farther, farther than he'd meant it to – into the forest, the earth atop his home, into the river. Wildflowers sprouted almost instantly, covering his house in riotous colour, and the trees (evergreen and otherwise) shot up several feet. Strangest of all, in the river more fish began to swim, appearing almost from nowhere and leaping into the air.

Aster recoiled in surprise, and the earthblood finished her work without him, spreading as wide as she pleased.

'Okay, that's it,' Jack said, and tugged Aster to his feet. 'You're done for the day.'

'What jus' happened?' Aster asked, a little woozy now that he was standing.

'No idea, we'll figure it out later,' Jack said, all but shoving Aster towards the now brightly flowering house. 'I didn't even know you could go white – thought the fur'd get in the way – but holy shit, you look like shit, Bunny.'

'M fine,' Aster protested, but his words were sort of mitigated by the way he was stumbling. Everything hurt, from his aching head to his weary feet, and he didn't understand why he was trying to make Jack think otherwise, since it was obvious even to Aster's muddled mind that he was out of it.

'You will be,' Jack said, voice menacing, and he half pushed, half pulled Aster into the house and down the hall. He settled Aster roughly into the bed, and Aster blinked up at him. 'Is this what it's always going to be like?' Jack asked, though Aster doubted he expected an answer. 'You always trying to kill yourself for the town? Because, not gonna lie, Cottontail, I kind of miss when we spent time together and you _weren't_ asleep.'

'Sorry, Snowbird,' Aster mumbled.

'Snowbird?'

'Ye fly, and ye can make snow, and ye're lovely,' Aster nodded, certain about these things. 'Snowbird.'

'Lovely, huh?' Jack said, laughing a little bit, which was better than the half sad voice he'd been using before. 'Wish you'd say these things when you're awake and can remember it.'

'Don' think I want to,' Aster said, his body beginning to relax again. 'Ye'll go away if I do.'

Jack looked at him. 'Is that really what you think, Aster?' he asked.

'Maybe I'm wrong,' Aster shrugged, or tried to; his arms weren't cooperating too well. 'Not worth the risk. Rather have ye here and not know than know and have ye gone.'

'Maybe that's not how it would go,' Jack said, and ran his fingers through the fur between Aster's ears. He sighed then, and added, 'but I feel weird, like I'm taking advantage of you right now. Go to sleep, Aster, we'll talk when you wake up.'

Jack's hand left him, and Aster tried to follow it, but couldn't make his head move.

'Tha' sounds dangerous,' he muttered into the crook of his arm, where his head had fallen.

'Maybe it is,' Jack said, and left the room.

Aster didn't notice at all, having fallen asleep for the third time in twenty four hours.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter of the day, and at last, Jack grows an entire brain. Whether Aster loses his or not is entirely up for debate.

**CHAPTER 8**

  
  


_In his dreams, Aster usually looked much like he ever did, but every once in a while, he wasn't himself._

_That is to say, he was Aster, no doubt about that, but he didn't look the same. He was taller, for one thing, and wore clothes he'd never seen in his life, maroon waistcoats and long green robes, purple sashes, oval pockets and golden, egg shaped buttons. When he was dreaming, for the most part, he didn't find this strange at all. It seemed natural, but for some reason, here and now, he was finding this all very strange indeed._

_It helped exactly none that he was staring at himself across a short, squat table. He looked down – nope, he was still him. Still wore his own bandoleer and his bracers, still shorter and leaner than his near-mirror twin._

_'Ah, ye're here; excellent, excellent,' he saw this other self say, checking an egg-shaped pocketwatch and snapping the lid closed smartly. 'About time.'_

_'Er,' said Aster._

_'Oh, come now, don't be so dense,' the other Aster said, twitching his ears in annoyance. 'A dream, me boy, a dream.'_

_'Good to know, I was wondering,' Aster replied, then paused. 'A dream?'_

_'A dream, yes, yes, a dream,' Other Aster confirmed. 'And not one with much time, I'm afraid. Do ye know who ye are?'_

_'As in, me name?'_

_'Yes. That, too.'_

_'I'm E. Aster Bunnymund,' Aster said. Other Aster gestured for him to continue. 'I'm, er, an animutt who lives on the farm outside Riverfield. I grow – things.'_

_'That's part of it,' Other Aster said. 'Good enough for now, but ye'll want to find out more soon if ye want to stop what's coming.'_

_'What's coming?' Aster asked, sitting forward; Other Aster rolled his eyes._

_'That'd be telling, and I'm not allowed,' he said. 'Ye just worry about Frost, and I'll worry about making ye less thick-skulled.'_

_'I'm not thick-skulled,' Aster argued. 'I have no idea what ye're talking about. What's wrong with Jack? Why do I need to worry about him?'_

_'Was I this obnoxious?' Other Aster asked, the question seemingly meant for the world in general. 'Bloody oath, I hope not. No wonder Katherine asked me to handle this one.'_

_'Katherine?'_

_'No time left,' Other Aster said briskly. 'I'll try to get back here, soon, but no promises. Be careful, and don't let Frost blow the town down, yeah?'_

_'What are ye...' Aster began to ask, but the dream faded, and soon all was dark, the memory of the bizarre exchange settling into the back of his mind._

  
  


Aster awoke into dim light.

'Bunny? Are you awake?' he heard someone say, and he looked over before staring; Tooth sat in a chair pulled up beside his bed, and wore an expression both relieved and annoyed.

'At the moment,' he said, and winced as the aches and pains of his body made themselves known. 'Ow,' he said, a bit helplessly, and Tooth sighed.

'You're an idiot,' she said, but it was mostly kind. She stood up, and said to the air, 'He's awake. Do you remember how to make that tea I taught you?'

'Of course I do,' the air answered in Jack's voice. 'You only told me a million times. Don't let his stubborn ass get out of bed.'

Aster, who had just begun to sit up, paused, and Tooth cast him a meaningful glare. He held up his paws in a placating gesture, and lay back down.

'Okay, bring it when it's ready,' she said, and the wind tinkled at her as she ended the message. 'How are you feeling, Bunny?'

'Like I took a tumble off a mountain,' Aster said honestly. 'Guess I was out for more than eight hours, huh?'

'You've been asleep for three days,' Tooth said, crossing her arms, and he winced.

'Ah.'

'You have some explaining to do, mister.'

'I suppose I do,' he said, and tried to both fiddle with the sheets on the bed and to not look like he was doing so. 'I take it Jack told ye?'

'What he knows, yes,' Tooth said. 'I'd like to hear it from you, if you'd be so kind.'

Aster sighed. 'When I pull too much on – the magic, whatever, it's a strain. Sometimes it hurts, if I use too much.'

'And what exactly is too much?' Tooth pressed, frowning.

'About what I did yester – three days ago,' Aster admitted. 'I was still conscious at the end though, I think.'

'You think?' Tooth repeated, her frown deepening into a scowl.

'I don't really remember, to be honest,' he said. 'I think Jack put me to bed? But I'm not sure, it's kind of blurry.'

'Oh, Bunny,' Tooth said, sounding tired. 'Why didn't you tell anyone?'

'Because of how ye're taking it,' he said shortly. 'It's not as bad as all that, really. I'm fine.'

'Fine does not sleep for three days, Bunny,' she scolded as the door opened behind her. 'You may be okay now, but you have to _tell_ us when this kind of thing is happening! What if you'd done something too big and the strain was too much? What about your heart, Bunny? Stress can make it weak, or fail entirely!'

Jack floated into the room, a big mug cradled in his hands. Aster shot him a pleading look, and he snorted.

'I'm not helping you,' he said sotto voce, handing Aster the mug. 'You're getting what's been coming to you, in my opinion.'

'Thank ye so much, Jack,' Aster hissed, holding the hot mug and letting the warmth settle into his palms. 'Ye're such a helpful bloke.'

'Bunny, are you listening?!' Tooth demanded. 'Stress cardiomyopathy! It's a real condition!'

'And not one I have, I'd bet,' Aster said as appeasingly as he could. 'I'm fine, Tooth, I'll be fine, and always have been. If something was wrong, do ye really think I wouldn't tell ye?'

'Yes, at the moment!' Tooth exclaimed, and Aster winced.

'Think I deserved that,' he said, and she deflated a little.

'Bunny, I'm just worried. How long has it been hurting you to do this?'

Aster ducked his head. 'Since the beginning,' he admitted, and didn't like the quality of the silence that followed his words.

'I give up,' Tooth said, sounding deeply exasperated. 'I cannot believe – how do you deal with him, Jack? He's the most stubborn man on the planet, my _god_!'

Jack laughed a little. 'He's got his good points,' he said cheerfully. 'Aster, drink that. All of it.'

Aster took a mouthful and nearly spat it out again. 'Ugh, what's in this?'

'Something that will only work if you drink all of it,' Tooth reprimanded.

'God, 'tween the two of ye I'll never be able to walk another step without someone hovering over me,' Aster grumbled, and took another gulp of the horrid tea.

'Literally,' Jack supplied helpfully, and Aster groaned.

Aster drank all of the tea as quickly as he was able, hoping to not prolong the torture, as Tooth and Jack chatted over his head about this and that. Outside, Aster could hear the gentle shushing of rain, and paused.

'It's storming?'

'Yep,' Jack said. 'River's swollen, and most of the town have moved to their second floors.'

Aster began to laugh, and Jack gave him a look. 'What's so funny?'

'Phil – Phil apparently said the storm wouldn't happen,' Aster explained through his laughter, 'and best of all – his house is all of one story –'

Jack began to laugh, too, and though Tooth tried to frown disapprovingly, her big eyes were crinkled up at the corners. 'You two are terrible,' she chided.

'Phil's terrible, and getting what he deserves,' Jack retorted, still chuckling.

Aster finally managed to get all his breath back, and set the mug on the nightstand beside him. 'If it's all the same to ye,' he said, biting back a yawn, 'I'm going to try and get more sleep. Got a big trip in a few days, and all.'

'Okay,' Tooth said, and fluttered out of her seat, wings glinting jewel colours in the dim light. 'I can't head back this late, and not in this storm. I'm down the hall if you need me.'

'I'll be fine, Tooth,' Aster said. 'Thank ye for yer help.'

'You're very welcome,' she said primly, and left the room.

Aster settled back into the bed, and after a moment, he realised Jack was making no move to leave. 'Something on yer mind, Jack?' he asked gently, and Jack started.

'You know what, Bunny?' he said, turning to face him with a serious expression. 'I think there is.'

'Well, give me the drum, then,' Aster said, sitting up a bit.

'No, no, you lay down,' Jack scolded. 'Swear to god, you can't just relax. Stay there, I'll get the light.'

Aster did as he was told, a little confused, as Jack floated up and extinguished the lamp, settling the room into a cool, close darkness. Jack returned to the bed, sitting beside Aster, and was silent a moment. 'Jack?' Aster asked.

'Hush, I'm thinking,' Jack said, swatting Aster's arm unerringly in the darkness. Another moment passed, and then Jack sighed. 'We need to talk, Bun-bun.'

'What about?'

Jack's hand, invisible in the darkness, reached out and down, gripping Aster's paw. 'About what you keep saying when you're so tired you're not thinking clearly,' Jack explained, and Aster went still.

God, had he said something about – about the way he felt? He stared up at the dark ceiling and tried to process the great abyss of fear that had just opened in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't ready for this. He'd been sure he'd never be ready for this, but here it was, the confrontation that Aster couldn't afford.

'I don't remember any of it,' Aster said truthfully, and still felt like a coward.

'I know you don't,' Jack replied, squeezing Aster's paw. 'If you did, I really don't think you'd be as calm as you are right now.'

'What have – what have I been saying?' Aster asked, screwing up the weak little thing in his chest that was his courage.

'All sorts of things,' Jack said vaguely. 'And you did things, too. You nuzzled me once, and a few days ago, you called me lovely.'

Aster couldn't help the way he flinched then. Jack either didn't notice, or ignored it as he continued, 'You asked me if I was living here now, and then told me it would be nice if I never left. And then, when I asked you why you didn't say these things when you were awake, you said that I would leave if you did.'

Aster tried to speak, but fear stilled the words in his throat.

'Did you mean all that stuff, Aster? Or was it just – you know, the exhaustion?'

He was giving him a way out, Aster realised, an excuse he could use; if Aster wanted to, he could agree and say he'd just been tired, he must have meant it in a friendly way, and he knew Jack would accept it, because he didn't want to push.

Aster sighed, and sat up, ignoring Jack's noises of protest. 'I meant it,' he said, and Jack fell silent. Then:

'All of it?'

'All of it,' Aster confirmed. 'I'm sorry, Jack. Ye didn't need this on top of everything else, too. I never meant for ye to know.'

'How long has this been going on?' Jack asked, and Aster couldn't tell what he was thinking from his voice; his hand lay still in Aster's paw.

Aster winced, and he felt his ears droop. 'For about two years,' he said. 'Just after yer eighteenth, I think. Maybe longer, but if it was, I don't think I was aware of it.'

'Two years,' Jack repeated distantly.

'I'm sorry,' Aster said again, and felt like the worst sort of person.

Then, Jack laughed.

Aster jerked away, thinking for a moment it was mocking, but the sound was wrong – it was too free and loose. It sounded, actually, like Jack was glad.

'You never said anything,' Jack said between hiccoughs of mirth.

'I didn't want to lose the best friend I'd ever had,' Aster said honestly, utterly bewildered.

'And you never noticed?'

'Noticed what?'

'That I –' Jack turned to him, and Aster swore his eyes were glowing in the darkness. 'You really didn't know? I thought you were just being obtuse. Or didn't want to know.'

'About what?' Aster demanded, annoyed now. 'Look, Jack, I'm happy to be yer friend, but if ye're just going to laugh at me –'

'I'm not really laughing at you,' Jack interrupted, squeezing Aster's hand again. 'I'm laughing at both of us.'

Aster froze as Jack reached out and placed a pale hand on his cheek.

'I can't believe you never noticed,' Jack said, and leaned forward, dragging Aster's head down to rest their brows together. 'North had me made by the time I was fifteen, and Tooth has been laughing at me behind her hands even longer.'

'Wha – are ye –?' Aster stumbled over the words, and ultimately wasn't able to finish his question. Instead, he stared wide eyed at Jack, who snorted.

'Let me put this a way you'll understand,' Jack said, still laughing, and ducked his head, kissing Aster gently on the mouth.

Aster held perfectly still as Jack drew away, leaving the sensation of his smile behind on Aster's lips.

'You and me? We're like that,' Jack said.

Aster swallowed, and didn't move a muscle for the longest moment, because this? There was no way to misinterpret this, to overthink or draw the wrong conclusion. Jack had kissed him – _kissed him_ – and even now rested their foreheads together again, his hand warm and sure around Aster's paw.

'Okay,' Aster said, and took a deep breath. 'We are okay, yeah?'

'We are,' Jack said, sounding amused.

'Great. That's – really? Ye are? Fine with this, I mean.'

'Aster, I'm over the freaking moon right now,' Jack said matter-of-factly. 'Over. The. Moon.'

'That's good,' Aster said faintly.

'Very good,' Jack said, and nudged Aster's nose with his own. 'Go to sleep, Bunny. I'll be here in the morning.'

'Ye don't have to –'

'I want to,' Jack insisted. 'And if you don't remember this in the morning, I will be so mad, it's not even funny.'

Aster chuckled anyway, dazed. 'Ye will, won't ye?' he asked.

'If you're still this confused about it, you definitely need the sleep,' Jack said, and shoved Aster. He flopped over with a yelp, and Jack laughed again before curling up beside him, arm winding around his waist.

Aster very slowly put his arm over Jack's shoulders, not sure if he believed that this was really happening, and was rewarded with a happy hum from Jack, who nestled deeper into his side.

'Go to sleep, Aster,' he said, 'And tomorrow, we'll talk about the snowbird thing.'

'The what?'

'Sleep.'

  
  


It was a dim grey in his room when Aster woke again, laying warm and comfortable on his stomach, and he felt more awake than he had in days. That might have had something to do with Jack, who was pinned beneath Aster's arm and had a leg hooked behind Aster's knee.

Aster just looked for a moment, in case this was a lovely dream he was going to wake up from any moment. Jack's breathing was calm, whistling very quietly between his parted lips, and his white hair pointed in all directions, sleep-mussed and inviting. He turned a bit, back towards the door, and tugged Aster's arm tighter over himself. His elbow was tucked beneath Aster's neck, pressed comfortingly to his collarbone, and very slowly the fingers twitched to life on Aster's shoulder, sleepily carding through the fur of his back.

Jack awoke, eyes blinking slowly awake, and turned his head back towards Aster before smiling. 'Good morning,' he said.

'Morning,' Aster said back, and Jack snorted a quiet laugh.

'What, it's not good for you?'

'It's perfectly fine,' Aster disagreed. 'Don't start up this early, Frostbite, I'm enjoying this while it lasts.'

'I liked Snowbird better,' Jack teased, and Aster frowned.

'Snowbird?'

'The other day, you called me Snowbird,' Jack explained, wiggling a bit further under Aster's weight, 'because, and I quote, 'Ye fly, and ye can make snow, and ye're lovely'.'

'Bloody oath,' Aster groaned, and dropped his head to the pillow as Jack began to laugh again. 'From now on, ye ignore everything I say when I'm that knackered,' he commanded, but the effect was rather lost, since his voice was muffled by pillow.

'No way,' Jack said, wiggling closer again. 'You say the sweetest things when exhausted.'

Aster felt himself go red, from the bridge of his nose up to his ears, and Jack just kept laughing, like he couldn't stop, couldn't imagine wanting to stop. 'Rack off,' Aster defended feebly.

'Never,' Jack returned, and pressed a kiss to the nearest piece of Aster he could reach, the edge of his collarbone.

They lay there a moment more, and Aster couldn't imagine anything warmer than this.

'You should eat,' Jack said, and like it had needed the reminder, Aster's stomach growled.

'Ugh,' Aster said, not moving. 'What if I don't want to?'

'I will force feed you soup if you don't,' Tooth called sweetly from the door, and Aster shouted in surprise, flailing off the far side of the bed.

Jack roared with laughter, only not falling off the bed because he could fly, and when Aster sat up, Tooth had a look on her face that was three-fourths amused and a quarter utterly vexed.

'Bunny, you will eat,' she insisted. 'I did not sit here and worry for three days while half the town took the harvest to the community stores to have you starve to death from stubbornness. Up!'

'Holy dooley, I'm up, I'm up,' Aster yelped, standing hastily as she darted over and began pushing him out of the room.

'Good, about time!' she said, and pushed harder. 'Move it!'

An hour later found him stuffed full of fruit and warm bread and more of that disgusting tea, sitting beside the fire in his sitting room and watching the rain outside. Tooth sat in the armchair, and Jack had sprawled on the couch, his head squarely in Aster's lap.

Tooth gave Aster a knowing grin, and he felt himself flush. 'Does anyone want to tell me what's going on, here?' she asked airily.

Before Aster could stutter out a response, Jack spoke up.

'Nope,' he said, and reached up, tugging Aster's arm over his shoulders. 'None of your business, Toothiana.'

'Oh, the full name, I see how it is,' Tooth said, sitting back in her chair smugly. 'You don't want to tell me, your oldest confidant –'

'That'd be the Wind.'

'– fine, your closest friend –'

'Currently laying on him, try again.'

'– your doctor and the woman who has tended you through every cold your stubborn self has caught in the last eight years,' Tooth interjected, and Jack nodded regally in acceptance, 'that you finally got your courage up after almost seven years of pining and said something?'

'In my defence,' Jack said, and Aster laid his ears flat, because he just _knew_ what was about to come out of Jack's mouth, 'he said something first.'

Tooth's mouth dropped open, and she looked at Aster with an almost offensive disbelief. 'No,' she breathed.

'I was almost unconscious, that's not fair,' Aster said, unsure if he was defensive of his own inability to filter what he said when he was tired or offended that Tooth didn't believe he would have said something. That he would have never said anything had he not bodged up his own plans was irrelevant. 'I didn't know what I was yabbering on about.'

'You got him to confess when he was _incapacitated_ , Jack?!' Tooth demanded, sounding scandalised and delighted in equal measure.

'None of your business,' Jack sing-songed at her, and she pouted a bit, crossing her arms.

'Bunny, you have to give me something,' she begged.

'I'm not up for being the grist of the town's goss mill, thanks,' Aster said. 'Ye can keep yer pointy nose out of it.'

'I never,' Tooth said, miffed. 'I don't gossip.'

'Except about your patients' love lives,' Jack said, shooting Aster a grin.

'Or yer patients' personal problems,' Aster added, returning the grin.

'Their children.'

'Their hair.'

'Their –'

'Oh, no,' Tooth groaned, throwing her hand dramatically over her face. 'It was bad enough when you two were friends. Now it's going to get worse.'

'What is?' Jack said innocently, but Tooth ignored him, getting up and taking flight.

'I am headed home,' she announced. 'The rain has let up a bit, and if I spend another minute around you two I'm going to go crazy. Show a lady the door, Bunny?'

'Can do. Get up, ye lazy sod,' Aster said to Jack, who floated into the air.

'Such sweet nothings he whispers to me,' Jack said, dry as the desert, and Tooth laughed at how Aster went red.

He led her to the door, and went to open it when she laid a hand on his arm.

_Don't be so nervous, Bunny_ , she said in his head, her touch empathy and telepathy flickering to life. _He cares for you. So much, you wouldn't believe it._

'I can't help it,' he told her. 'I'm still not sure I'm actually awake.'

_You are_ , she assured him. _Just be happy, Bunny. And be careful._ She let go of his arm and said aloud, 'And if you two don't stop in before you leave, I will track you down myself and make you test my new cough syrups every day for a week.'

Aster shuddered, and there was nothing exaggerated about it; Tooth's cough syrups were famously nasty, if also famously effective.

'Good. Take care, Bunny,' she said, and patted his hand once more before opening the door herself and flying into the rain.

'Ye too,' he said back quietly, and was certain she could hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why is the romance half-resolved not even a third of the way through the story? Because it's kind of not. Even if it really, really is.
> 
> and what the fuck was that beginning section, huh?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, first chapter of the day.

**CHAPTER 9**

  
  


Jack was working busily away at something when Aster re-entered the room – a list, from the looks of it. Aster sat beside him, and Jack leaned into his shoulder, never turning his focus away from what he was doing.

'What's that for, Snowbird?' Aster asked, and Jack looked up, startled and pleased.

'A list of things we'll need when we go,' he said, and returned to his scribbling. 'I'm thinking we can carry some of the food, and refuel on the way from different towns, but I don't want to stop too often. I don't want to broadcast what we're doing.'

'Why not?' Aster said, frowning. 'It's not like we're doing anything shonky.'

'No, but I also don't want anyone being able to track us,' Jack said matter-of-factly. 'I don't like the news we got, and if I can avoid drawing attention to us, maybe whatever happened to Chough's Landing, and Fairton and Mickland, won't happen to us.'

'It seems like it's happening to whole towns, Jack, not individuals.'

'All the more reason to avoid the towns,' Jack muttered darkly.

Aster just nodded, and read over the list. 'We can definitely manage this with everything I've got here,' he said. 'Ye have all the things ye need from home, or do ye need to stop there tomorrow?'

'I've got my staff, and some clothing,' Jack shrugged. 'Between those and the Wind, I'd say I'm pretty set.'

'We'll still need to stop there before we leave, let North know we're going,' Aster advised. 'Might as well have a squizz while you're there.'

'Sure,' Jack said, rolling his eyes. 'Whatever you say, Bun-bun.'

They spent the rest of the morning arguing supplies, weights, distribution (Jack was pissed when Aster tried to take more, but Aster eventually won him over by arguing that it would leave Jack lighter and faster for better scouting from the air), and logistics.

It was almost time for lunch when Jack sighed, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. 'I'd love to get my hands on a map,' he admitted. 'But I don't think one that big has been made in – ages, god. I'd love to see the full continent.'

Aster nodded; his sire had always been a fair hand at maps, and some of the skill, such as judging distances and picking a sturdy route, had passed down to him. 'I can see the appeal,' he said. 'But all the maps I know of are local, and Nick has them.'

'I know,' Jack groaned, and flopped back on the couch. 'What a waste. We're basically flying blind.'

Aster went to respond, then froze. 'I know where we can get a map of the continent,' he said slowly, and Jack shot up into the air, surprised. 'It's going to be a trick getting it, though.'

'Fuck, Bunny, you're the best,' Jack said. 'Where?'

'Where else?' Aster grinned at him. 'Sandy, of course.'

'Will he let us have it?' Jack asked, leaning forward.

'Not for free, he won't,' Aster said, frowning in thought. 'He's the only one who'd have any maps from the Before, though, and while a lot has changed, I don't think the shape of the land has. It should be a help, at least, and we can get more detailed knowledge on the way.'

'That's brilliant,' Jack said, dropping down onto the couch with a thump. ' _You're_ brilliant.'

'Well, at least I know ye don't just like me for me looks,' Aster remarked with a cocked eyebrow, and Jack laughed delightedly.

'No, those are just a bonus,' he said, and wiggled his eyebrows at Aster, who flushed a bit.

'I don't know what he'd take for it, though,' Aster said, fumbling a quick subject change. 'He's turned into a bit of a hoarder in his old age, and I've not got anything he'll consider of equal value around here.'

'He likes sweets,' Jack suggested, and Aster shook his head.

'Everyone likes sweets, Frostbite, that's not going to get him to part with a priceless map from the Before.'

'I don't think you understand,' Jack said seriously. 'Sandy _really_ likes sweets. And because he's so short and, you know, kind of round –'

'He's got a bit of pudge, yes,' Aster said, trying not to laugh.

'– Tooth's been confiscating all of the sweets from his house,' Jack said. 'He's gotten to the point of straight up smuggling them in and hiding them behind the books, even if it might attract mice.'

'Really?' Aster said, scratching at his chin. 'That might work, then.'

'And,' Jack finished triumphantly, 'I know for a fact that you make the best goddamn chocolate in town.'

Aster's ears flattened a bit as he coughed. 'Don't let Nick hear ye say that,' he said. 'Sides, I haven't made chocky in years. Haven't had the beans.'

'Who do you think told me about it?' Jack asked. 'And I know where you can get some, but it might take some work to get enough.'

'Why?' Aster asked.

'Phil,' Jack said with a grimace, and Aster groaned feelingly.

  
  


'Why do you get the easy job?' Jack whined as he shrugged on a jacket.

'Ye say easy job,' Aster said, wrapping his feet in coarse cotton, to help him grip the slick ground outside. 'It's going to be hard enough to convince Sandy to even consider parting with a map, much less actually get him to go through with it.'

'Yeah, but it's Sandy, at least,' Jack replied, buttoning the last button. 'Why do I have to be the one to go try to convince Phil to give us some cacao beans?'

'Because if I go, I'll job him and steal the lot,' Aster said reasonably. 'I've been reliably informed that course of action is heavily frowned upon, and at length, and in a thick Russian accent. I'll pass, thanks.'

'What if _I_ punch him and steal the cacao beans?' Jack asked, and Aster tried not to laugh at how damn _hopeful_ he sounded.

'Then ye'll be in as much trouble as I would, and ye know it,' Aster said, and Jack sighed.

'One kiss for the road, then?' Jack asked, smiling, and Aster twitched.

'Er, if ye want,' he said, feeling a little lightheaded.

'God, I hope you get over this whole shyness thing someday,' Jack said, floating nearer and lower, so they were of an eye level. 'It's precious, but it'd be nice if you didn't look like you were marching to your execution every time I want to kiss you.'

'I don't look like that,' Aster argued.

'Do too,' Jack said, and slung an arm over Aster's shoulder, and reeled him in.

Jack's mouth was warm and soft, and the kiss was a quick one, but Jack stayed close for a minute longer, nose pressed to Aster's. Slowly, Aster relaxed, and Jack kissed him again, briefly, before pulling away.

'See, was that so bad?' he asked, smiling again.

In answer, Aster brought to bear all of his bravery and leaned forward, kissing Jack back.

Jack's arms tightened around his neck, and he wrapped his own around Jack's waist, the warmth between them like sitting in front of a fire on an autumn's evening. Jack licked the line of Aster's lips, and Aster jolted, his skin prickling.

'Why'd you have to go and do that,' Jack sighed, when he'd pulled back once more. 'Now I don't want to go.'

'Ye didn't want to go before,' Aster said, secure in Jack's hold, which felt strange; he'd always thought it would be the other way around.

'No, I did not,' Jack agreed, and kissed Aster's nose. 'Come on. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can come home.'

Aster jolted again, and gave Jack a startled look. 'Are ye living here now?'

'See, you asked that the other day,' Jack said, grinning widely. 'If you'd bothered to be awake, you'd remember my answer.'

'Sorry, it had been a busy day,' Aster said, sardonic.

'It had been, I'll give you that,' Jack said, and floated a little higher in Aster's hold, resting his head against Aster's brow. 'My answer was 'if you'd let me, I'd never leave', just to be clear.'

The memory was very faint, but the words felt right in Aster's mouth as he replied, 'That'd be nice, if ye'd never leave.'

'Knew you'd remember eventually, you're not old enough to be losing your memory,' Jack said blandly, but Aster could hear his heart from here, and it was going a little faster than Jack might admit to. 'Stop distracting me, let's go.'

'Ye're very distractable,' Aster reasoned, but let Jack go and opened the door. The rain that still fell beyond it was colder than usual for May, but as Aster stepped into the wet, he figured that was to be expected; it had been a very cold winter, after all.

'Meet back here before sundown?' Aster said, leaning into the rain, blinking the water from his eyes as his fur began to flatten beneath the deluge.

'You got it, Bun-bun,' Jack said. 'Tea and blankets, I think.'

'Tea and blankets,' Aster agreed, and took off at a light run.

Jack soared above him, keeping pace a hundred feet up, and they made it to the town a bit later than Aster's normal run – about a half hour's time, thanks to the mud. Aster flicked a wave in Jack's direction and headed towards the library, where a faint glow was coming through one of the first floor windows.

Aster shut the door behind him and stayed in the little entrance room, dripping; Sandy would kill him if he tracked mud and rainwater in, and he was trying to make an impression, here. He really did respect the books and knowledge Sandy protected, but unless he made that as physically clear as possible, there was no way Sandy would even let him say his piece.

He wiped water as best he could from his body, and wiped his feet on the old, faded mat beside the door. 'Sandy?' he called, walking into the large main room and gingerly keeping away from anything made of paper.

A rustling noise, and then a small blonde head popped around a doorway to Aster's left. Sandy waved Aster over cheerfully, and made him sit when he'd entered the room.

He smiled at Aster, and signed a rabbit, a building with a book on its front, and a question mark.

'What, no 'how are ye' before we get to business?' Aster chuckled. 'How have ye been? No flooding, I hope.'

Sandy shook his head, and flicked up a quick desert landscape and a lock.

'Good to see the old girl's still buttoned up tight, then,' Aster said, and cast a fond look at the walls. He'd spent a fair amount of time in this building as a kit, whenever his dam went to town; he'd hated the visits with her friends, as they were deadly boring to a hyperactive kit, and the only thing that would keep him in one place was a book or two.

Sandy nodded cheerfully, flashing a rabbit again, a snowflake, and a question mark; Aster groaned, slumping in his chair.

'She left _this morning_ , how has word already spread?' Aster said. 'Who knows now?'

A candy cane, a tooth, a little swirl, and a quill pen.

'Well, at least the whole town isn't in hysterics.'

A clock, the minute hand spinning like a cork, and Sandy laughed silently at the look on Aster's face. Sandy then signed his initial question, and Aster sighed.

'I take it ye know what's been happening to the other towns, yeah?'

Sandy nodded, expression serious.

'Jack hasn't heard from his family, and he's raging to go after them.'

Sandy sat up straight, looking startled, and a candy cane appeared over his head before snapping in two. Aster nodded.

'Yeah, Nick's not too chuffed, I don't reckon, but ye know Jack. Once his heart's set on something, he's as stubborn as a Mallee bull.'

Sandy grimaced a little. Then, he signed a quick series of images: a snowflake, the jagged spiral that meant fire, a series of mountains, and the snowflake again.

'Yeah, we know,' Aster said, twitching his ears back. 'It's going to be far, but if ye thought I was going to let him go alone, ye're cracked.'

Sandy relaxed a little, then frowned. He flashed a rabbit, a little swirl, and a question mark.

'Ye've got something we need,' Aster explained. 'Jack and I were talking, and we figured we'll need a map. A bigger map than Nick's got, one that covers all of Normerica. I know it's asking a lot, but –'

Sandy was shaking his head already, and flicked through a few signs – a thin piece of paper Aster took to be a map, then fire, followed by the symbol for rain and something that looked like mud. Then, he added other signs: a sundial, a delicate glass window that then cracked, a locket, a star missing an arm –

'Sandy, I know,' Aster interrupted. 'I know that it could go poorly, alright? But I will do me best to return the map to ye, and it's not like I'm asking for it for a zack, ye know.'

Sandy flashed a question mark.

'Jack's getting the collateral as we speak,' Aster said. 'Just hear me out, alright?'

Sandy sighed, a puff of sand leaving his mouth, and nodded.

'We need the map so we have a rough idea of where we're going,' Aster said, trying with all his might to be persuasive. 'I'm worried that if we don't have one, we could find ourselves in a hell of a mess, Sandy. And if I'm right, I don't know how we'd get out of it.'

Sandy nodded slowly, but he still looked stubbornly deadset on not giving over one of his precious maps.

'Aster! Sandy!'

Aster's ears swivelled back the way he'd come as the door shut, and the sounds of water dripping on the floor mingled with the sound of fabric shifting to paint a picture: Jack, removing his jacket, shaking off the water a little.

'Are you here?' Jack called again.

'Over to yer left, Frostbite!' Aster called without turning his head, and Sandy huffed silently.

'Hey, Sandy,' Jack said, floating into the room. He took up a perch on the back of Aster's chair, holding a canvas bag in his hands.

'I'm guessing ye succeeded,' Aster said, eyeing it.

'I had to block up Phil's house with ice, but yeah,' Jack said, sounding annoyed by it. 'How are you, Sandy?'

Sandy shrugged, then gestured at the bag, question mark floating over his head.

Aster couldn't see it, but he'd bet anything Jack was grinning his head off. 'I know you've been having some troubles lately,' Jack said solicitously, and reached into the bag. 'So, I thought it could be a little quid pro quo, you know?'

He pulled his hand out of the bag, and said, 'Hold out your hand, Bunny.'

'Me?'

'Yeah, you,' Jack snorted, and jostled Aster's shoulder with his knee. 'Come on, don't leave the man waiting.'

Aster held his palm out flat towards Jack, twisting in his seat to do so, and Jack dropped a fistful of cacao beans into his paw.

Aster grinned at Jack, and turned to see Sandy sitting forward, looking interested. 'Might have something ye want,' he said, and Sandy looked away from the beans to Aster's face. Aster opened his mouth to continue, and then paused; something about the weight of the beans in his hand was off.

'Cottontail?' Jack said, nudging him again.

'Hold on a tick,' Aster said, and focussed on the beans again. Then, he began to smile.

Sandy flickered the question mark in emphasis, and Jack looked about ready to open his mouth when Aster said, 'They're still alive. I can grow these.'

'You can what?' Jack said, almost toppling off the back of the chair.

'I can grow these,' Aster repeated, and looked at Sandy. 'Let us use a map, and I'll grow ye as much chocky as ye can eat.'

Aster had never seen Sandy move so fast in his life.

Five minutes later had Aster standing in the entry hall, holding a square package wrapped in wax-treated cloth, a map three feet wide tucked safely inside. Jack was pulling on his jacket again, making a face at how damp it was, and Sandy was hovering protectively over the bag of cacao beans.

'Keep 'em in a safe, dry place until we get back,' Aster advised. 'Somewhere warm, but not too warm. I should be able to fix 'em if ye muck it up, but no dramas.'

Sandy nodded vigorously, holding the beans safe against his chest. He flashed a figure inside a circle – the sign for safe – and then a rabbit and a snowflake.

'We will, Sandy,' Jack said. 'We're headed straight home.'

Sandy turned and gave Aster a look that had him red as he ever was.

'What?' Jack said, looking between them.

Sandy turned back to Jack, and with a mischievous grin to Aster, signed a tree. Then, two figures appeared in the lower branches, and Aster groaned.

'No, ye stop that,' he said. 'No teasing, mate, it's too early for this.'

Sandy ignored him, and Jack watched intently as the two figures kissed. Then a heart appeared, two rings followed it, and at last was a baby basket. Jack shook his head, serious.

'Unless I'm really misunderstanding something, we're not having kids,' Jack said matter-of-factly, and Sandy began to laugh, body shaking silently as Aster resisted the urge to knock his head against the wall.

'I can't believe ye,' Aster said, mortified. 'It's been less than a day.'

Sandy shrugged, and flashed the heart and a little calendar.

'He's kind of right, Bunny,' Jack said, stepping into the air. 'We've been kind of sort of dating for like the past two years.'

'Have not!'

'It sort of looks like it from the outside,' Jack said, head tilted as if trying to see it from literally a new angle. 'I mean, I'd talk to you all the time through the Wind, and whenever you came to town, either I'd find you or you'd find me. I bet no one will be surprised to hear it.'

Aster felt like the ground was rolling beneath his feet. 'Tell me I wasn't that obvious,' he said to Sandy.

Sandy nodded his head, grinning.

'And ye don't have a problem with it?' Aster asked, and now both Sandy and Jack frowned.

'What kind of problem would he have?' Jack asked, and Sandy signed agreement.

'I'm ten years older,' Aster said. 'And, well.' He waved a paw at his ears, and Jack rolled his eyes, floating over to hover beside him.

'You're ridiculous,' Jack said, and punched him lightly in the arm. 'I'm an adult, so it doesn't matter. Also, I don't care about the ears or the fur, or any of it. You're a mutt just like the rest of us.'

Sandy looked pleased as punch, and signed so. Then, he made a shooing motion, a clock appearing over his head.

'It's not that late,' Aster said, frowning. 'Mid afternoon, at best.'

Sandy made the shooing motion again.

'Fine, fine. We'll get out of yer hair. We'll say goodbye before we head off,' Aster said, and opened the door. 'Look forward to yer chocky, mate.'

Sandy nodded, and then they were out in the storm once more.

'Let's get back to the farm, ye menace,' Aster said, setting off at a gentle lope.

'Your menace!' Jack sing-songed, and Aster smiled to himself as he ran.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter of the day. And holy shit Jack, I didn't think the species of nerd would survive the apocalypse, but you have straight up succeeded at proving me wrong.

**CHAPTER 10**

  
  


Aster didn't dare touch the map until he was fully dry, and so they sat in the sitting room, towelled off and sipping tea. Jack knit, his pale fingers flying fast over the brown yarn, and Aster had his supply bag in his lap, checking it over and mending tears.

They talked while they worked, and began trading stories – ones they knew from childhood. Aster hadn't heard many of the ones Jack knew, having been taught all about his heritage from his parents, and Jack was delighted to hear new ones from so far away. Once or twice, their stories would intersect, and they would compare details.

'It's kind of interesting,' Jack said after a while. 'Like, I know it's because the world was way more connected in the Before, but it's still cool that such different places can have the same stories.' He started a new row, and looked up at Aster. 'Do you remember Australia?'

'Some,' Aster said, and clucked his tongue at where the fabric was fraying beneath the bottom left strap. 'I was barely more than a tot when we left.'

'What did it look like?'

'Red,' Aster said, re-threading his needle. 'The dirt was, anyway. I remember that. And there were a lot of shrubs and trees, but not a lot of grass, not like here. The houses were built like this one, but they didn't have things growing on 'em.' He knotted the end and began to more firmly anchor the strap. 'I remember thinking they were like hills, with little houses inside them.'

'There's this really old book Sandy's got in the fantasy section,' Jack said. 'He let me read it a few summers ago. It's called the Hobbit? Did you ever read that one?'

'I must've read half the books in that library,' Aster admitted, 'But I was never much one for fantasy.'

'Well, all the hobbits – they're these little guys, they all live in this beautiful place called the Shire – they all live in these hills, their houses tunnelled through them.' Jack dropped a stitch, and cursed while he picked it back up. Once he'd fixed the mistake, he added, 'I always imagined them looking like this house.'

'Sounds lovely,' Aster said. 'What was the book about?'

'Well, the main hobbit goes on this big adventure to help a bunch of dwarves – other little guys who are really hairy and loud and cheerful – get their mountain back from this dragon, who stole it.'

'How do ye steal a mountain? And why, for that matter?'

'The dwarves lived in the mountain, I think,' Jack said. 'And they mine, and stuff, so I guess they had a bunch of treasure, and dragons love treasure.'

'What, like jewellery and things?' Aster asked, tying off the thread twice so it wouldn't unravel. 'What's the point of hoarding that? Jewellery's meant to be worn.'

'I don't know, do I look like a dwarf to you?' Jack said, and Aster looked over consideringly. 'I can hear it already, don't bother saying it. And for the record? I am not actually that short. You're just freakishly tall.'

'It's the –'

'Legs, I know,' Jack groaned. 'When I was a kid, I used to want to be taller than you.'

'I think wanting to be taller is something most kids do,' Aster pointed out.

'Yeah, but,' Jack said, switching the way he was holding the needles as he started yet another row, 'it was specifically taller than you, you know? It was like I thought you'd pay attention if I was.' Jack snorted. 'I had this little kid crush on you for like two years, then pretended there was absolutely nothing for about three more. North wouldn't leave me alone about it.'

Aster winced. 'That sounds like a trial.'

'Oh my god, you have no idea,' Jack laughed. He squinted at Aster for a moment, then held up his knitting, like he was measuring it out. 'How do you feel about scarves?'

'Er, they're warm, I reckon,' Aster said. 'Why?'

'Because I need to make some double sided needles before I can do anything fancy, and I'd like to make you something,' Jack said, shrugging. 'It won't be cold enough for you to wear it for a while, but I'd still like to do it.'

Aster's ears lay gently down on either side of his head as something warm bloomed in his chest. 'I've not worn a scarf in years,' he said, 'But I'd be happy to wear one ye made.'

Jack smiled at him. 'Cool,' he said, and tilted his head. 'I'm thinking something green, but I'm not sure where I would find the dye for that.'

'Couldn't ye just buy the yarn?'

'The guy who comes through with it doesn't carry a lot of colours,' Jack shrugged. 'Besides, I like doing the dye myself.'

'Well, ye're just full of tricks, aren't ye?' Aster said admiringly, and Jack went a little pink.

'Shut up, Bunny.'

Aster felt a little smug – it was nice, to turn the tables for once. 'I meant that,' he said. 'Ye're really clever, Jackie.'

'Shut up, Aster, I'm warning you,' Jack said, his face a solid rose colour.

'What, can't a bloke compliment his cobber?' Aster said, setting down the supply bag and crossing his arms with a smile. It might have been closer to a smirk, though. 'I mean, ye're pretty, ye're smart, ye can cook and knit and dye yarn, it's a miracle no one else has snapped ye up –'

'Aster,' Jack said, voice dangerously low. 'Shut. Up.'

'– and to think, ye settled for this old rabbit –'

Jack tossed aside his knitting and sprang across the room. It was unclear if it was just a leap or flight, but it ended the same regardless: Jack grabbed onto Aster's shoulders and hauled himself up onto Aster's lap, leaving Aster breathless as he pressed close.

'You asshole,' Jack muttered, a little breathless too. 'You have no idea. I didn't _settle_ , okay? I waited and waited and never thought you'd actually pay attention, never thought you'd want to.' He looked down at Aster, who swallowed hard. 'You gonna hug me back or what?'

Aster reached up and placed his arms around Jack's waist, who held on tighter. 'And I'm not actually that good at stuff,' he said into Aster's ear. 'I can pick stuff up, but I never get really good at any of it.'

'Jack of all trades, ace of none,' Aster said, and dared to nuzzle at Jack's neck.

'Haha,' Jack said flatly, but Aster could feel the smile he wore. 'You're awful.'

'Ye make puns, too,' Aster said. 'Only fair I can make one at yer expense.'

Jack kissed the edge of Aster's ear. 'Yeah, yeah,' he said, and sat back in Aster's lap. 'We should look at that map.'

'We should,' Aster agreed, but didn't move his arms.

'You're gonna make me do everything, huh?' Jack asked, and let go of Aster long enough to wave his hand. The package floated over to him, and the wind chimed at Aster as she deposited the package in Jack's hands.

'Says the bloke who sleeps in til noon,' Aster said, and Jack snorted.

'If I give you a kiss, can we get back to what we're supposed to be doing?'

'Sounds more like a reward for ye than anything else,' Aster said, his heart picking up pace.

'Two birds, one stone,' Jack said, and ducked his head down.

Aster wasn't sure he'd ever get used to kissing Jack, not a week from now and not thirty years (if they got that far). Jack kissed like he was exploring, like he was learning the shape of Aster's mouth and there was going to be a test on it later. He wasn't shy about it at all, either, not the way Aster was. His mouth was sure and his tongue moving, sliding along Aster's top lip. Aster opened his mouth to it, and Jack pressed the advantage, tongue darting in and meeting his, drawing it out into play.

Aster realised he was holding Jack's body flat to his own, and that Jack was reciprocating, dropping the map behind Aster's back and pressing closer as if he wanted in – and oh, that was a thought, wasn't it? As Jack's fingers tugged lightly on Aster's ear, Aster groaned loudly, the sound coming from a place deep in his chest.

Jack's hips stuttered forward, and he broke away with a wet sound that ran straight down Aster's spine. 'O-okay, there's your – your kiss,' Jack said, voice cracking a bit at the edges. 'We should – uh, we should –'

Aster tried to resist, but the line of Jack's throat was too tempting, and he leaned forward to set his mouth against it. Jack shuddered, hands tightening in his fur.

'Aster,' he said, relatively clearly.

'Yeah, Snowbird,' Aster replied, speaking into Jack's skin. His tongue grazed Jack's skin, and Jack jerked in his hold.

'We have to – to do something,' Jack said, his head tilting back, and Aster slid his mouth up towards the corner of Jack's jaw, nearly to his ear.

'And that was...?' Aster asked, a little surprised that he could manage to tease like this. Jack pressed his head alongside Aster's, and sighed.

'You choose _now_ to stop being so shy,' Jack said, and there was a bell-clear note of frustration. 'Right now. When we need to plan our route to Aztlan.'

That did rather put a damper on the mood, but Aster didn't pull away immediately, instead nuzzling at Jack's ear until Jack was breathing unsteadily.

'Ye're right,' he said at last, and sat back. Jack made a noise that was both a growl and a whine, and leaned all of his weight forward, laying on Aster.

'That wasn't exactly a 'stop',' Jack said a bit mournfully.

'Then ye shouldn'tve said anything,' Aster replied, and nudged Jack in the side. 'Up, ye bludger.'

Jack sighed, and floated straight up. 'Can we pick it up later, though?'

'Maybe we will,' Aster said, flushing a little at the thought.

'We better,' Jack said, and reached over Aster's shoulder for the map.

Aster kissed the skin of Jack's bare forearm as it passed, and Jack went pink again, all the way down his arm. 'Stop it,' he said. 'Later.'

'Yes, dear,' Aster said, and Jack whapped him with the map package.

  
  


'Wow,' Jack breathed as Aster unfolded the map on the kitchen table.

It was a beaut, Aster would admit; three feet square, it was only slightly faded with its age and showed the entirety of Normerica in vivid relief.

'Where are we on this?' Jack asked, leaning over it.

'Hereabouts,' Aster said, and tapped their little valley, a noticeable dip in one of the eastern mountain ranges.

'The Catskills,' Jack read aloud. 'That's a weird name. Everyone just says 'The Eastern Mountains', now.' He swept a hand over all of the different mountain ranges. 'Are all of these really different mountain chains?'

'This map is from the Before. Lots of things were different, I think,' Aster said. 'See, instead of how we run it, all of Normerica – North America, then – was under one government.'

'How the hell did they manage that?' Jack said, looking impressed.

'Not sure. Doesn't seem a wise idea, in me opinion. Hard to keep track of all this.' Aster swept a paw over the part of the mountain range Riverfield was in. 'See these thin lines? Was part of it, I think. Delegation.'

'What do you mean?' Jack said, looking up.

'Like, towns joined up and made – counties? Then counties joined up and made states,' Aster explained, frowning as he tried to remember what Sandy had told him. 'The states made up the country.'

'Oh. I guess that makes sense,' Jack said, and returned his gaze to the map. 'So we're just north of the New York border, then.' Jack tapped the name of the state smartly. 'Wonder where Old York was.'

'No idea,' Aster admitted.

'So we need to get to a town called Santa Juanita, in Aztlan,' Jack said, and frowned. 'Mexico?'

'I think that's its old name,' Aster said. 'I don't know any Espautl, so I couldn't tell ye.'

'Ma said it was at the end of the long peninsula in one of her letters,' Jack said, and traced the skinny piece of land on Aztlan's left side. 'Must be this one.'

'Baja California Sur,' Aster read.

'No, no,' Jack chuckled, 'That's wrong. The Js are pronounced like Hs in Espautl. I do know that.'

'Okay, well, that's where we're headed,' Aster said. 'The scale says that's something like –' he measured it roughly with a few twists of his fingers. '4900 clicks.'

'Fuck, that's far,' Jack said.

'Not too far,' Aster said bracingly. 'Me dam and sire crossed the Pacific and the whole of Normerica in under eight months, and with a kit to boot. Neither of them flew, and me dam couldn't run like me sire.'

'You think it'll go by that quick?' Jack asked, staring at the map and the vast distance between himself and his loved ones.

Aster placed a paw on Jack's shoulder and rubbed gently. 'Between me speed and yer flight? We might make it home in three weeks or less.'

Jack nodded. 'I'm really glad you're coming with me, Bunny,' he said quietly, and put his hand on top of Aster's. 'So where do we start?'

'Right here, at the west mouth of the valley,' Aster said, and they got to work.

  
  


Aster awoke the next morning to the smell of brewing tea and the earth after the rain. 'That's a good sign,' he muttered, and ignored that his left side was cold. He knew where Jack had gone, after all.

He got up and went to the kitchen, finding exactly what he thought he would – Jack and his tea, in his normal seat.

'Ye're up early,' Aster said, squinting outside where the sun had just crawled above the trees. 'Are ye alright?'

'Not really,' Jack said, shrugging. 'Woke up an hour ago, couldn't go back to sleep. Nerves, you know.'

'I know,' Aster said, and dropped a kiss on Jack's head. Jack leaned back into him and sighed, sounding less weary and more content.

'Knew I'd get you to be more affectionate eventually, but I didn't think it would be this soon,' he said.

'Too much?' Aster asked, and Jack snorted.

'From you? No such thing,' he said, and nuzzled backwards with his head against Aster's stomach. 'I meant I thought you'd be really kind of hands off for ages, after the way you reacted when I kissed you the other night.'

'I was absolutely knackered,' Aster said, 'and surprised, besides.'

'I know what you mean,' Jack said, tilting his head back and smiling at Aster upside down. 'I still feel like I'm floating.'

'Ye float half the time, anyway.'

'You just love to ruin the moment, don't you,' Jack said, knocking an _oof_ out of Aster with his skull.

'If I recall, ye're the one who ruined yesterday afternoon,' Aster said.

Jack grinned luminously. 'Why, want a redo?'

Aster swallowed; they had spent so long poring over the map and hammering out their route that the 'later' never came. They'd instead fallen into Aster's bed and into sleep, Jack's body tucked neatly against Aster's own.

'Might not be a good idea,' Aster said weakly. 'Got things to do, and all.'

'It's still early,' Jack pointed out, 'and no one expects to see us until later today, anyway.'

'We need to pack.'

'Come on, Aster,' Jack said, fluttering his eyelashes and looking ridiculous. 'One kiss, that's all, I promise.'

'It never just stays one kiss with ye,' Aster protested. 'It's all or nothing.'

'Not true,' Jack said, and his voice had a dark note of intent. 'Definitely not all.'

Aster shivered.

'Come on, one little make out isn't going to hurt anyone,' Jack coaxed, getting out of his chair. 'Won't take too long. And we can start packing immediately after, how's that?'

Aster was losing track of why he was protesting, with Jack smiling up at him, a hint of devilry to his expression. Jack was stubborn, but he could be respectful, too; if Aster said no, Jack would let it go, no muss, no fuss. Aster just wasn't sure he knew why he should say no, anymore.

'Ye're a menace,' Aster said, and opened his arms.

With a whoop of delight, Jack sprang into the air and landed on Aster with a thump, his arms twining around Aster's neck as he hung on. 'It's okay, Bunny,' he said, putting on a condescending air. 'I know I'm irresistible.'

'Ye're stubborn, is what ye are,' Aster said, but Jack felt good in his arms, his waist trim and fitting well against his own middle. Jack grinned at him and floated up a bit.

'You've seen nothing yet,' he said, and wrapped his legs around Aster as well.

'And forward,' Aster said, feeling a little like his words were refusing to come out of his throat as his nerves lit up and went haywire. 'Very, very forward. Could go so far as to say a bit tarty.'

'Tarty?' Jack repeated, settling into Aster's hold again. 'What, me? No, I'm very – what's the word? Demure?'

'Haha,' Aster said, and Jack laughed for real.

'See, here's what I figure,' Jack said, wiggling a bit, testing how much weight Aster could take. Aster held firm, swallowing hard and trying to think of just about anything other than Jack's thighs against his own hipbones. 'I am about to embark on a big damn quest with an unsociable, kind of furry guy who lives in a hole in the ground, who would be much safer in said hole in the ground. He, however, is determined to come with me to go take back my mountain, which may or may not have a dragon guarding it, because he wants to do the right thing.'

'I'm not really getting yer metaphor here, Jackie,' Aster said.

'Hush. So, unlike my block-headed dwarven counterpart,' Jack continued, 'I am taking the opportunity given me,' here he stretched up to speak directly into Aster's ear, 'and do my best to climb you like a freaking tree.'

'Um,' Aster managed.

'I'm hoping that's a good kind of um,' Jack murmured, and kissed the edge of Aster's ear.

'It – it is,' he said. 'Still not the best idea right now, Jackie.'

'Better than outside,' Jack said, managing to sound reasonable even as he kissed his way down the side of Aster's face. 'Which is where we're about to spend a lot of time.'

'Jack, no,' Aster said, and Jack pulled back a bit to look in his face.

'Okay,' he said simply. 'Make out still on?'

'Yes to the kissing, no past that,' Aster said as firmly as he could. 'Wouldn't be a good idea, this close to heading out.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' Jack sighed. 'I'm still holding out for sometime soon, though. Is it because you're uncomfortable? Or is it just the timing?'

'A little of both, to be honest,' Aster said. 'I'm not sure I'm – let's just say I'm not used to someone _wanting_ to kiss me, and leave it there, yeah?'

'Okay,' Jack said again. 'I'll want to ask later, though.'

'Later, ye can ask all the questions ye want,' Aster said. 'We've a long trip ahead of us, and not much else to do but talk.'

'Good, that means we can stop talking now,' Jack hummed, and kissed Aster with a surety that Aster hoped one day he could match.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good, respectful Jack. 10/10. But that does raise the question of what's up with Aster - and who _knows_ what that's all about.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter today - a wee bit shorter than the others, but we finally get moving, so there's that!

**CHAPTER 11**

  
  


Aster double checked the supplies laid out in front of him against his half of the list, and nodded; all was accounted for, and he began to neatly pack them into the travelling bag.

Jack was doing the same thing across the room, and occasionally they would pass off different supplies that didn't fit in their packs, readjusting the weights. It was peaceful, companionable and quiet, and Aster found himself trying to memorise the feeling. There would be precious little of it in the journey to come, he suspected.

He palmed the little grey roll of felt, and considered handing it over to Jack now, but decided against it; better to save it for when he really needed it. He slipped it into his bag, the weight of it unnoticeable with all the rest, and fastened the bag shut.

'Ye ready, Snowbird?' He asked Jack, who was shouldering his own bag.

'You got it, Cottontail,' Jack replied, picking up his staff from where it leaned up against the wall. 'Any way I can convince you to skip out on stopping at North's?'

'Ye know there's not,' Aster said disapprovingly.

'He's just gonna mother-hen all over the place,' Jack wheedled.

'He does get a bit clucky, but it's for yer own good,' Aster said, fiddling with his straps. 'Sides, it's been a few days. He might have more information for us.'

'No, stop that,' Jack said, taking flight when Aster held the door open for him. 'I hate when you get all reasonable. It's no fun.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'I'm ten years older than ye,' he said, shutting the door and reaching out to snag Jack's wrist. He towed him over, and grinned up at him. 'Someone's got to be the reasonable one in this relationship.'

'Oh, good, I was worried it'd have to be me,' Jack deadpanned, kissing Aster's cheek.

They turned to go, and Aster paused; his fields looked bizarrely barren, surrounded as they were by the burgeoning green of the first few days of June. It would be summer soon, but the dirt lay bare, exposed to the sun and the passing breezes.

'Hold on, Jack,' he said, and Jack nodded, watching as Aster crouched with a hand settled against Aster's shoulder.

He only needed a little, and like before, the earthblood answered eagerly, racing up his hands. Slowly, the fields turned green, grass shooting up gently and covering the ground. The wildflowers that now bloomed on top of his home waved at him, and he felt that it was in farewell.

'Got to leave her decent,' he said lightly, standing up.

'We'll be back, Aster,' Jack said, taking Aster's paw again. 'Promise.'

'I know we will, ye great dill,' Aster huffed, but the sentiment was received. 'Reckon when we get back,' he said, turning to face Jack, 'might want to do some redecorating.'

'Why? I like it the way it is,' Jack said, frowning.

'Thought ye might like to put a bit of yer own touch to it, to be honest,' Aster shrugged.

Jack looked at him, a quiet sort of happiness flaring to life on his face. 'Let's not change her too much,' he said. 'I did always like animals. How do you feel about chickens?'

'Like the fresh eggs, not so fond of their habits of eating seeds,' Aster said. 'Could put up with it for ye, though.'

Jack laughed. 'They'll eat the bugs off your plants, too,' he said, pressing into Aster's side. 'Maybe a goat. Goats are fun.'

'They're menaces, and will eat me entire garden, don't think they won't,' Aster warned, setting off down the road, Jack still beside him.

'Not if they're fenced in and well fed,' Jack argued, grinning brightly.

'They'll eat all the wildflowers off me house.'

'They'll eat what we feed them, Bunny.'

'Pick something else,' Aster insisted.

'We're running out of animals that aren't kept for meat, Bun-bun,' Jack pointed out. 'What about a sheep?'

They bickered like that the entire way into town, and Aster suspected it was both for the sake of the argument itself (Jack always did enjoy a friendly blue) and to keep his mind off his nerves. Jack stayed glued to Aster's side, and Aster mostly walked to accommodate it, figuring Jack needed the close contact. Two hours later, the forest broke and houses began to appear.

Jack's hand tangled in the fur of Aster's shoulder. 'What if he's mad?' Jack asked, and Aster knew what he meant, if not the reasoning behind it.

'Why would Nick be mad, Frostbite?'

'Because I'm leaving,' Jack said.

'He's known ye're leaving for the past week, J –'

'I mean, I'm leaving in a lot of ways,' Jack interrupted. 'I'm leaving the town right now, and even when I come back, I won't be going back to North's. I dunno,' he said, his free hand rubbing at the back of his head. 'Maybe he'll be happy to have me out of his hair.'

'I doubt that,' Aster said, and nudged Jack with his shoulder. 'I can't tell ye for certain what he's thinking, but I can tell ye that every parent – or parental figure, I think – is both happy and sad when their kits grow up and leave. On the one hand,' Aster said, and picked up Jack's hand from his shoulder, 'it's a sad thing. They're leaving yer home, and making their own, and even when they come back, it's just for visits.

'On the other,' and now Aster turned Jack so they were facing one another, and picked up Jack's right hand, 'It's a wonderful thing. It means ye grew up well, it means ye're strong enough to go out into the world on yer own. It's a proud moment, I'm sure. And ye know Nick, he's a proud bloke.' He tightened his hold on Jack's hands. 'No matter what, Jack, no matter how he reacts at first, he's gonna be happy with ye.'

'You should just make speeches, Bunny,' Jack said. 'You're good at them.'

'Nice subject change,' Aster replied, grinning. 'Ye're a natural.'

Jack laughed. 'Shut up.'

'And I wouldn't worry about Nick's approval, he all but gave me a shovel speech after the town meeting,' Aster said, faux-casual.

'What?' Jack asked, eyes widening.

'Lemme see if I can remember correctly,' Aster said, letting go of one of Jack's hands and beginning to walk once more. 'Something about swords not being necessary at the moment, but they were waiting for me? Me memory's a bit dodgy,' he admitted. 'I was nervous at the time.'

'Yeah, North has that effect sometimes,' Jack nodded.

'Well, I mean, yes,' Aster said, 'but mostly I was panicking that he'd found me out.'

Jack paused, and the only thing that kept him moving was Aster towing him along. 'North knew all along that you were – and he didn't say anything?' He whispered furiously.

'Said something about ye not believing him if he did tell ye,' Aster shrugged. 'Said 'You are Aster! He cannot imagine it', something like that.'

'Please never try to mimic a Russian accent again,' Jack said, struggling to keep a straight face. 'That was awful.'

'I aim to please,' Aster said, sweeping a little bow, and Jack snorted.

'I'll just bet,' he said, and they spent a few more minutes in silence. 'I wouldn't have, though.'

'Wouldn'tve what?'

'Believed him,' Jack clarified, and laced their fingers together. 'You, interested in me? Impossible. I would have noticed.'

'Yeah, well, we were both a bit blind,' Aster said. He squeezed Jack's hand for emphasis. 'She's apples, Snowbird. Don't ye worry any.'

'Okay, Bunny,' Jack said, and then they were in the town.

Around them, people went about their lives, bustling in and out of storefronts, chatting and walking briskly to and fro; if any noticed Jack and Aster's interlaced fingers, they gave no outward sign, and Aster was grateful for that. He wasn't sure he was up for the small town interrogation that would follow.

They made their way to Nick's house first, both having agreed it was best to get the most difficult goodbye out of the way, and were surprised to see Sandy and Tooth there as well as Katherine, sitting on the porch and sipping what looked like lemonade of some kind. Sandy saw them first, and as they approached, Aster made out a few signs: snowflake, a stretched out curl, and a half-heart shape.

'Bunny!' Nick boomed, getting to his feet at the same time as Katherine stood and yelled, 'Jackson Frost, you didn't even have the decency to wait until I was here!' The words floating around her head were a deep, angry yellow.

Aster and Jack traded looks.

'I will give you anything if you handle Katherine,' Jack said. 'Literally anything, I will fly up and bring you back down the moon if I have to –'

'Much as I'd like to see ye try,' Aster said, resigned, 'I doubt either of 'em will give ye the chance.'

'We can still make a run for it?' Jack asked, hopeful.

'Not on yer nelly,' Aster replied with an eyebrow, and pushed Jack forward.

If that put another body between himself and Nick, then all the better.

Katherine stomped down and grabbed Jack around the shoulders, shaking him vigorously. 'I waited for years – years! – and you made your move while I was gone?! You didn't say _anything_ the other day, I could knock your teeth out!'

Tooth made a distressed noise as Jack stuttered out, 'K-k-kinda a n-new d-d-d-develop-pment, K-kath!'

'How new?!'

'A few d-days!'

'You can talk on the wind, you could have sent me a message –'

A giant dish of a hand clapped down on Aster's shoulder, and Nick said with great cheer, 'I am trusting you remember swords, yes?'

'I do at that,' Aster said cautiously.

'Excellent, let us speak no more on it,' Nick said, magnanimous, and stepped over to rescue Jack from Katherine.

As soon as Nick had freed him from Katherine's grip, Jack soared up and away, landing behind Aster and clutching at the fur on his back.

'Ye alright there, Jack?' Aster asked in an undertone.

'I thought she was gonna kill me,' Jack answered, 'holy fuck, I think she actually would have killed me if I'd made a move on you two weeks ago –'

'Thank god we're dim,' Aster said back, and Jack snorted in laughter.

'So!' Nick said, having placated Katherine somehow. 'I can see you two are ready to be leaving!'

'Seems that way,' Aster said, and Jack crept out from behind him. 'Didn't expect the departure party, to be honest.'

'Pah, we do not have such party for you.' Nick walked back up onto the porch and sat again. 'We all decided, is easier to worry together! Worrying alone, is never good for health.'

'No, it's not,' Tooth agreed, and fluttered into the air. 'Do you boys have everything?'

'I'm thirty,' Aster muttered under his breath as Jack answered, 'Yep, everything double-checked!'

'Medikits?'

'One each,' Aster assured. 'Mine's got more in it, but that's cause I know what to do with the bloody thing.'

'Dried food?'

'Did you really think _I'd_ forget that?' Jack said, rolling his eyes.

'Weapons?'

Jack hefted his staff, grinning, and Aster reached back, pulling out his sire's boomerangs. 'Still good enough to hunt with,' he said, though in truth, though he'd taken care of them, it had been yonks since they'd been used.

'No knives? Guns?'

'Knives yes, guns no,' Jack said. 'Why would I need a gun?'

Nick gave Jack a look that would have withered a fully grown tree. Jack just smiled again. 'Nah, I've been practicing,' he said. 'Wanna see?'

'Practicing what?' Katherine said, the words a curious pale green.

In answer, Jack twirled his staff and pointed it at the ground in front of the porch, crook first; a spear of ice, as long as Aster's forearm and deadly sharp, exploded out from the top of the curve and pierced the ground with a deafening crack.

Aster whipped to his left, staring at Jack, who just kept grinning sunnily. 'That,' he said, all bright cheer. 'See? No firepower required. I've got icepower.'

Aster groaned at the terrible joke, and Jack laughed at him. On the porch, Katherine looked stunned, while Sandy clapped his hands at the wonderful show and Tooth sighed.

'I suppose that works,' she said, and settled back into her seat. 'Water tablets?'

'I always have some on hand,' Aster said. 'We're kitted out, Tooth. No dramas.'

Sandy signed a piece of paper.

'Tucked in me bag,' Aster said, patting the side.

A sprouting plant.

'Soon as I get back, mate. Promise.'

Tooth looked between them curiously, but they were saved by Nick waving a hand, dissipating the ice Jack had shot into the ground.

'Bunny,' he said. 'You are bringing my family home to me. My dear daughter-in-law, my granddaughter, they are relying on you and Jack to bring them here, to safety.'

'I know,' Aster said. 'I'll do me best, I swear.'

'You do not understand what I am saying,' Nick said, and stepped back down to stand in front of him. 'You will have my daughter, my granddaughter, and my grandson in your hands. There is no one I would trust more to succeed.' He took Aster's shoulders, and crushed him in a brief hug before stepping back. 'Evergreen and Helena would be proud of you. I am proud of you.'

'Um,' Aster managed, stunned.

'And when you come back, I will be happy to call you my new grandson!' he announced, smiling wide and chuckling. 'It will be good to have more family, yes!'

'Okay, North, you're going to scare him off,' Jack said, pushing at Nick's middle. 'We'll be back in maybe a month, since Emma can't fly and Ma can't fly as fast. Don't do anything I wouldn't.'

'That leaves me with many options, my dear grandson,' Nick said, and took Jack's shoulders, like he had Aster. 'Jackson, I will warn you once. Bunny is son of my dear friend, and I have seen him grow from small child to strong man. You will be good to him, or my family will grow smaller. Are you understanding?'

Jack blinked. 'Wait, did you just give _me_ a shovel speech?'

Aster couldn't help it – he began to laugh, helplessly and uproariously. On the porch, he could hear Katherine and Tooth join in, and he'd bet anything that Sandy would be laughing along with them, silent sand dancing around his head.

'Am deadly serious,' Nick agreed. 'Give me your word, as man.'

'I promise, North,' Jack said, and sounded very serious all of a sudden. 'He's my best friend. Wouldn't hurt him for the world.'

'Good! Then you may live,' Nick said, and it sent Aster into fits all over again.

'Shut up, Bunny,' Jack said, but he was smiling now, too. 'Let's head out.'

Aster straightened, his cheeks hurting, and gave Jack the fondest look he had. 'On yer mark,' he said, and Jack seemed to glow.

'Get set,' Jack replied.

'Go, already!' Katherine shouted, and Jack took off into the air, laughing wildly.

Aster followed, matching Jack's speed, and for all the seriousness of what they were undertaking, he felt like it would all be worth it if he could just keep Jack laughing.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter today, and what do you know, we actually manage to leave Riverfield. Wow.

**CHAPTER 12**

  
  


The valley passed in a blur, Riverfield fading into the distance, and in an hour and a half they had made it to the western pass.

Here, the forest was less tame than even around Aster's farm, and they huddled into themselves the way Aster remembered seeing on the day of the town meeting.

Jack floated down, settling beside Aster as he paused beneath a tall hemlock. 'What's up, Bunny?'

'I don't rightly know,' Aster said, running his palm over the intricately braided bark. 'Seems like the poor things are frightened out of their wits.'

Jack frowned. 'How can that happen? It's a tree.'

'Trees are more deeply rooted into the earth than just about anything else, Snowbird,' Aster explained, gently rubbing at a knot in the wood. 'They're slow to forget just about anything, and their roots meet for miles and miles. They know things from far away that we'd never guess – windstorms, wildfires, and the like.'

'Trees talk to each other?' Jack asked, and turned a fascinated gaze to the tree.

'Sort of,' Aster shrugged. He kept stroking the tree, and slowly, it relaxed under his paw. 'It's closer to – sharing knowledge, I reckon.'

'Do they talk to you?'

'They did once,' Aster said, and was unable to keep his voice from sounding melancholy. 'They stopped, mostly. A little while ago, I thought I heard – but no, I think it was the exhaustion.'

Jack looked at him. 'Does it have something to do with your parents?'

Aster flinched.

'Yeah, let's talk about this later,' Jack said, watching Aster's face. 'We should keep going while we have the light.'

'That'd be best,' Aster said, trying to bury the old pain down deep.

Jack reached out and took Aster's face in his hands. 'Hey, it's okay, Bun-bun,' he murmured, and pressed their foreheads together. 'Later. If you want. If you don't, that's cool, too. I know for a fact that talking about things before you're ready is just as bad as not talking about them.'

'Quit being so adult,' Aster admonished, but since he'd put his paws around Jack's wrists and was holding tightly, it might have lost some of the effect.

'I don't think that's something you can stop,' Jack laughed. 'You can act like a kid again, but I don't think adulthood is something you can reverse.'

'Probably not,' Aster agreed. 'Come on, ye were right, the light's not gonna last forever.'

'Of course I'm right,' Jack sniffed, and kissed Aster's mouth gently before floating away. 'West until sundown?'

'Until that little lake by the mountain that looked like Tooth's nose,' Aster corrected. 'We'll see if it'll make a decent camp. If not, west until sundown.'

'You got it,' Jack said, and took flight once more.

Aster followed him, trusting Jack to pick out a safe course through the woods. He leapt from tree to tree, keeping apace, and Jack flew at near his top speed, somewhere around 65 clicks an hour, about a third of Aster's. It was still much faster than most mutts could travel, and Aster thought they might be nearing the lake a few hours later when Jack tumbled down to fly beside him.

'How ye going?' Aster asked, looking over.

'There's a problem,' Jack said. Aster came to a stop, crouched on a thick pine branch, and searched Jack's face.

'What kind of problem?'

'A raider camp kind of problem,' Jack answered, fiddling with a knot on his staff. 'I think. I could see smoke, and I thought I saw a caravan. By the shore of the lake.'

'We should go around it, then,' Aster said reasonably.

'Yeah,' Jack said, and looked at Aster. 'I think their lookout saw me, though.'

'What?'

'There was a bird animutt – some kind of sparrow, I think – skulking around,' Jack explained, and he landed gently on the branch beside Aster. 'I sort of stick out in the sky – most people who can fly have wings of some kind. I'm just a mutt.'

'Are ye sure if they saw ye?' Aster asked, and stilled Jack's hands.

'No, but I don't want to risk it,' Jack said, and started to float again. 'Let's swing south by a couple of miles, and we should be fine.'

'We can do that,' Aster agreed. 'Ye should fly up high, stay out of sight.'

'Not too high,' Jack said with a frown. 'I won't be able to keep a watch out.'

'She'll be apples, Jack,' Aster insisted. 'Ye go high, and leave the wind with me. I'll keep ye posted if anything happens.'

Jack went a little pink. 'Why didn't I think about that?' he muttered, and the wind stirred to life, curling coolly around Aster's neck and chiming quietly. 'Stay safe, Aster.'

'Ye're not going far,' Aster pointed out.

'Far enough,' Jack retorted, and shot skyward.

'Jack?' Aster whispered once Jack was out of sight, and the wind tinkled in his ear. 'Jack, can ye hear me?'

'That is the most unnerving thing, holy god,' Jack said back, sounding as loud as if he was still perched beside Aster. 'Why she likes you so much is what I want to know. I can't believe she just did that.'

'What?'

'She just connected us before I could do it,' Jack explained, his voice pitched low as Aster began to move. 'She shouldn't be able to do that without my help.'

'Good thing it's just me, then,' Aster said lightly, and Jack snorted.

'It's always been just you,' he said, and Aster almost missed his next branch from the way his heart stuttered at that.

The wind hummed in what Aster suspected was laughter, vibrating and chilly on his throat.

'Too much?' Jack asked, sounding like he was smiling.

'No, just – not used to anything like this, is all,' Aster said, taking a long leap over a clearing. 'It's nice, it's just... new.'

'New's not bad,' Jack replied, and the wind nuzzled at Aster's cheek. 'Just – new.'

'No shite,' Aster huffed, and kept running to the sound of Jack's laughter.

About twenty minutes passed like that, until Jack said, 'Don't look now, but you've got a tail, Bunny, and not your usual one.'

'Ha ha,' Aster said back, moving a little faster. 'Who?'

'That sparrow animutt from before,' Jack said. 'I'm too high up, I don't think she sees me, but she's definitely following you.'

'Stay where ye are,' Aster said, frowning. 'I'll lose her. If the wind stays with me, I'll let ye know when I'm clear.'

'Be careful,' Jack warned, and the wind tinkled faintly, as if she knew to keep quiet.

'Hold on tight, little miss,' Aster said to her, tensing his muscles and leaping out.

He now went close to twice as fast as before, and shifting directions every few trees; above him, he caught glimpses of the sparrow-like mutt, their feathers dark grey and barely reflecting the light. They seemed confused, flitting this way and that, and Aster risked keeping to one direction for a minute's time, sprinting away.

Two miles distant, he paused, gripping the trunk of a tree, and looked back. The sparrow mutt didn't seem to have figured out where he'd gotten to, and was slowly scanning the forest below. Aster was pretty sure they thought he was hiding, and chuckled to himself.

'Give me Jack's ear, if ye could,' he said to the wind, who tinkled gladly. 'All clear, Snowbird,' he continued. 'I'm two miles northwest of the mutt. Meet ye –' he scanned around. 'Do ye see that little clearing half a click from me, the one with the river?'

'Yeah. You good?'

'M fine, don't worry. Meet ye there.'

The wind tinkled once more, and Aster made his way over at a much more sedate pace.

Jack was waiting for him when he arrived, sitting in the low branches of a tree. 'Bunny!' he called softly, and flew at him. 'Thank god, I was worried.'

'He couldn'tve caught me, ye know that,' Aster said, amused.

'I don't have to like it,' Jack said. 'We weren't anywhere near their camp, what reason did she have to chase us?'

'Think it might be a he, Snowbird,' Aster said, and scratched at his chin. 'And we're carrying loaded packs. Probably thought we'd be easy pickings.'

'Couldn't catch you, though,' Jack said, sounding proud, which had Aster's nose warming.

'We should get moving. We're a bit north of where we wanted to be, and with the raiders nearby I don't want to spend much time here.'

'You got it, Cottontail,' Jack said. 'West 'til sundown. Should've just listened to me in the first place, you stubborn old rabbit.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Get going, or I'll leave ye to catch up,' he advised, and Jack shot up and away.

Aster paused a moment, and looked around the clearing; the trees that surrounded it were the same as the ones he'd seen early in the day, trembling almost invisibly and radiating an air of fear. He wondered if it had anything to do with the raiders nearby, or what had happened at Chough's Landing. With no small amount of trepidation, he took off, and as he went, something worse occurred to him: the trees knew what hurt the earth, far away as hundreds of miles, sometimes farther. And who knew how many towns had been obliterated that still had to be found?

He shuddered, and kept running.

  
  


They were clear of most of the foothills when they came at last to a stop. They settled in a small stand of beech trees for the night, and Jack dropped his pack with a low groan.

'I forgot how heavy carrying these things can get,' he said, sitting on the ground with a graceful flop. Aster set his pack beside Jack's, and began gathering up the fallen branches for firewood. 'You look like you could probably keep going, you weirdo,' Jack added, leaning against his pack.

Aster shrugged. 'Probably could, if I didn't care about me health,' he said. 'Resting's important too, Jackie.'

Jack flapped a hand non-committally and Aster chuckled, bringing over the wood he'd gathered. 'Sides, ye're a flier,' Aster teased. 'Ye didn't actually have to carry a thing.'

'Flying takes effort, Bun-bun,' Jack responded, closing his eyes. 'I had to work just as hard at it as you probably had to work at your running.'

'Nah, I could always run,' Aster said, piling the sticks up neatly, smaller pieces closer to the centre. 'It was the stamina I had to build up, and working a farm did wonders for that, lemme tell ye.'

'Didn't do your figure any harm, either,' Jack remarked, and Aster flushed.

'Excuse me?'

'What, can't a – how'd you put it – 'bloke compliment his cobber'?' Jack said, and when Aster looked over, he was grinning in a lazy, self-assured manner that managed to be both endearing and irritating at once. 'You called me pretty, I get to call you pretty, too.'

'I was almost unconscious,' Aster said, ears flattening embarrassedly.

'Not the second time,' Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows, 'and the first time, I believe you called me lovely.'

'Rack off,' Aster said, stacking the left over wood a fair distance from the little pyramid he'd constructed.

'I just can't help myself,' Jack said, and fluttered his eyelashes ridiculously once Aster glanced over. 'You're too good-looking, what can I say? Always called 'em like I saw 'em.'

'If ye can't help yerself, then how about ye help _me_ , and dig out the firestarter,' Aster said grumpily, knowing he sounded so, and forced to endure Jack's smug grin for it.

'You got it, Bun-bun,' Jack said, and began to dig around in his pack. 'You good to find water?'

'There was a stream a little ways back,' Aster said, and began to look for the collapsible pot. 'Have one of those water tablets ready.'

'Could just boil it,' Jack replied, and held up the firestarter with a triumphant 'Aha!'.

'Rather not risk it, mate,' Aster said, and found the collapsible pot. 'Start the fire, would ye?'

'Aye aye,' Jack said brightly, and Aster huffed out a laugh before he left.

He was barely out of sight of the copse when the wind wound herself around his arm, chiming at him as if it had been years since she'd last seen him rather than the handful of hours.

'Where do ye go when ye're not with Jack, little miss?' he asked idly, spotting the stream and striding over.

She answered in a series of musical noises, hums and trills and the chiming noise he was coming to get used to. 'I see,' he said, doing nothing of the sort, and she jangled discordantly in one of the most emphatic 'no's he could imagine.

'Ye're right, I really don't,' he admitted, and she chimed magnanimously.

He filled the collapsible pot and hauled it back to the camp, where the fire was a gentle light in the swiftly deepening dark. 'Water's on,' he said, and Jack looked up with a smile.

'You just keep stealing the Wind from me, huh?' Jack said, holding out an arm; the wind unwound herself from Aster and flew to Jack, making a few sweet bell tones. 'Chatty tonight, huh?' Jack said, and then, to Aster's surprise, responded with a trill of his own and a set of the same bell-sounds.

'So she's speaking a language, then,' Aster said, and Jack smiled at him.

'Sort of. She just talks without it most of the time. I think she's making it audible for you.'

'And ye speak it, too?'

Jack nodded. 'Not much of a singer, but I kind of know this instinctively, so I think it negates my terrible voice.'

'Never heard ye sing,' Aster said, and held out a hand for the water tablet. Jack passed it over, and Aster dropped it in the pot.

'You won't ever, if I get my way,' Jack said decisively. 'Seriously. Could make babies cry.'

'Babies cry anyway, ye dill.'

'Fine, grown men.'

'Men cry, too.'

'Not manly men,' Jack insisted, eyes twinkling merrily in a way that clearly came from Nick's line. 'Like – Theold. I'll bet you anything Theold never cries.'

'Ye'd lose,' Aster shot back. 'I remember an ember falling on the seat of his pants when I was a tyke, and there were tears.'

'Bullshit,' Jack said, delighted.

'Fair dinkum,' Aster nodded. 'Course, it had burned through straight to his date, so can't says I blame the poor bloke. This was back when his hair was still black, mind ye.'

'Tooth assures me half of those grey hairs are my fault,' Jack said proudly, and Aster laughed.

'I'll just be ye are,' Aster agreed. 'Hell, if I wasn't grey already, ye'd probably be the source of mine.'

'You've been grey as long as I can remember, though,' Jack pointed out. 'Can't blame me for that one.'

'Been grey since I was born, Snowbird, so can't really blame anyone.' He checked the water, and saw that the tablet was entirely dissolved. 'Alright, we're good to go.'

'Oh, cool,' Jack said, and dug through his bag again. 'What do you want tonight, the vegetable soup with noodles or the vegetable without?'

'Noodles, I s'pose,' Aster said, and Jack tossed him a package.

It was familiar-unfamiliar, this dance around the campfire. On the one hand, it was reminiscent of the past week and a half where Jack had settled in and made himself a part of Aster's life, the banter like a warm blanket around Aster's shoulders. On the other, they were far from home, and like as not to see it for a while. Aster tried to focus on the familiar, but it was hard.

They finished the food and Jack unrolled the thin sleeping mats that were rolled up and tied into place atop their packs. It was quiet as they lay down and banked the fire.

'Hey, Aster?' Jack asked, turning his head to look Aster in the eye. They lay side by side, a long line of warmth up Aster's right side; his fur kept him warm, and so Jack had the spot nearest the fire. Aster didn't say as much, but it also made him feel better, to be between Jack and the world. He suspected Jack knew anyway. 'Is it later?'

Aster took a moment to puzzle out what Jack meant, but it wasn't long before he had. Aster sighed and turned over, facing Jack completely and turning his back on the trees. 'I'll try,' he said simply, and Jack just nodded.

'How about you just tell me about the trees first?' Jack said, reaching out and placing his hand on Aster's arm.

'They talked to me when I was little,' Aster began, trying to focus on Jack's hair instead of looking directly into his eyes. 'As long as I could remember, even the little bits from Australia. They talked about – tree things. How deep and far their roots went, how much water they were getting, the sunlight, what the other trees farther away were saying. Other plants talked, too, but they didn't have as many interesting things to say. They don't live as long, ye know. Flowers talked a lot about colours and things, which I did enjoy, but mostly, I talked to the trees.

'For a really long time as a kit, trees were just about the only thing I wanted to talk to, other than me dam and sire. They told better stories, in me opinion, and all the other kits just wanted to run around and chase each other and fight. I liked that, don't get me wrong,' Aster laughed a little. 'I was a right little brumby, according to me dam. But other kits couldn't tell me about great fires from thirty years ago, or about how their seedlings from two seasons past were starting to sprout ten clicks away.'

'Sounds a little bit like me and the Wind,' Jack said quietly. 'I mean, I couldn't really talk to her as a little kid, but I knew she was there, and talking. Only Emma believed me, because she could hear her, too.'

'They were good friends,' Aster agreed, 'and even when I left and came here, the trees here were just as friendly. They called me seedling, right up until I was sixteen.'

'What did they call you then?' Jack prompted, when Aster had been silent a short while.

'They didn't,' Aster said at last. 'They stopped talking. Everything stopped talking.'

Jack looked at him, and there was such a depth of compassion in his eyes that it made Aster's throat close up. 'Why?' he asked, and it was clear Aster could choose not to answer, if he wanted.

He took a deep breath, and said, heart aching, 'Me parents died.'

Jack's eyes widened. 'Oh, god, Aster,' he said. 'I'm sorry. I didn't know – I thought maybe –'

'We don't really know,' Aster said, and when Jack wiggled closer, Aster let himself be entangled in Jack's limbs. 'We never found either of their bodies. But there was enough blood that... well, I'd be surprised if they lived. And if they had, surely they would have come back by now.'

'I thought maybe they'd just gone missing, or left,' Jack murmured into Aster's chest. 'I didn't want to ask, because you'd mention them from time to time, but I never saw them. Nobody ever talks about it in the town.'

'It's a long time in the past, Snowbird,' Aster said. 'It's just hard to talk about, because there's still...'

'A little hope,' Jack finished, and nosed at Aster's fur. 'And the trees stopped talking?'

'Dunno if I was finally old enough to stop believing, or if the grief made me deaf,' Aster confirmed without saying so outright. 'I can still sense them, the way they move and feel, but I haven't heard their voices for fourteen years. Don't really expect I ever will.'

'If I couldn't talk to the Wind anymore, I don't know what I'd do,' Jack said. 'If it wasn't the grief, then _fuck_ do the trees have shitty timing. They should have been talking more to you, not shutting up.'

'Maybe they were, and I couldn't hear them. But like I said, it's in the past.' Aster wrapped Jack more snugly in his arms, and Jack sighed, sounding content. 'Not much use in focussing on it. I'd rather try to live right now, thanks.'

'I like right now,' Jack said, voice warm. 'I mean, even though we have to trek all the way across Normerica to get my family, I know they're going to be okay when we find them. And hey, I've got you, for what that's worth.'

'Love ye, too,' Aster said dryly, and Jack stiffened in his arms.

Before Aster could apologise, his face heating red, Jack burrowed deeper into his hold and pressed his mouth against Aster's throat.

'Love you, you sarcastic asshole,' Jack said, and a warmth swelled in Aster's chest.

Aster pressed a kiss to Jack's head. 'Sleep,' he said. 'We've a long ways to go tomorrow.'

'We need to find a town,' Jack said, and yawned widely.

'Why is that, Frostbite?' Aster asked, a bit amused.

'Because after all this talking, I need a bed to put you in,' Jack explained, sounding bleary. 'Not for – you know – but because the ground? Not the place for makeouts. And you deserve a makeout after that.'

'I'll pencil it in,' Aster said, grinning over Jack's head, and Jack murmured sleepy assent. Aster lay awake a few moments more, and watched the fire until he slept.

If his heart ached a little less, and his cheeks were a little wet, no one was the wiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aster, my darling. I really do love this character, I promise. I don't intentionally hurt him. -shifts uncomfortably-


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chapter of the day! warning for earning that mature rating at last (though we sure as heck will earn it more and in different ways coming up).

**CHAPTER 13**

  
  


Morning dawned with a fine mist and a heavy dew, and Jack laughed as Aster shook off the worst of it, grumbling all the while.

'I thought it was lovely, especially the drops on your eyelashes,' Jack teased, and laughed some more as Aster went red.

'Shut yer gob, Frost,' Aster said, and shouldered his pack.

'I don't think I've ever actually shut up when someone told me to,' Jack mused. He took up his own pack and staff, and popped up into the air.

'Stay high,' Aster said. 'I don't want what happened yesterday to happen again.'

'Lay low,' Jack returned. 'Of the two of us, I think I get to be more worried.'

'Ye got it,' Aster said. Jack waved his free hand, and the wind swept into the clearing, scattering the ashes from the fire before ruffling Jack's hair.

Jack sang at her a moment – a high arpeggio of notes that Aster hadn't been aware Jack's mellow baritone could reach – and she sang back, three bright chirps of sound. She then soared to Aster and settled in a constant circle of motion around his throat. She chimed delightedly, and Aster grinned.

'Ye're a lovely singer, Snowbird, don't know what ye're on about,' he said, just to watch Jack roll his eyes exasperatedly.

'She'll keep an eye on you while I can't,' Jack explained. 'I'll be scoping the land from way up, but I'll feel better if I can talk to you and you're not alone.'

Aster didn't put up a fuss about that, because he knew he'd feel better with knowledge of Jack's whereabouts, too.

'She's good company, aren't ye, little miss,' Aster said instead, and wished for a moment that there was some way to pet the wind; her personality was so strong that sometimes it was hard to remember that she was only a current of air. He settled for patting awkwardly at his own neck and letting her nuzzle his fingers. 'Speaking of, does the little miss have a proper name?'

'Wind,' Jack said, a touch sheepishly. 'I was like four when I named her, okay? Be happy she isn't named something dumb.'

Aster only raised his eyebrows.

'You, shut up.' Jack rose a little higher, and pointed the bottom of his crook at Aster. 'I'll keep an eye out for a town. Don't think I've forgotten.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Have fun finding one big enough to have some kind of inn.'

'I will, thank you,' Jack sniffed, mockingly haughty, and took off into the sky.

'He's a bit of a diva, isn't he,' Aster said to the Wind, and she chimed twice.

  
  


They'd been moving for some hours, covering good ground in Aster's opinion now that they were free of the foothills and into flat, forested land. He was just enjoying the work of travel, and letting his mind blank out; the strain to his muscles was lesser than after a speed-up of his plants, though the weight of the pack told him it might be nice if Jack did find some kind of inn, because his back was going to be very angry with him if he didn't give it something softer than the ground to lie on. Still, it was a good strain, and promised a pleasant ache when they stopped for the night.

He reckoned they'd travelled close to four hundred fifty miles so far, and since it was still mid morning, he felt pretty confident they could do another few hundred at their speed. He ran the math in his head, and nodded, certain they'd go at least three hundred miles further.

The Wind tinkled from where she lay snug around his neck, and Aster hummed back at her.

'How're you doing, Bunny?'

'Well enough,' Aster answered between leaps. 'We'll be able to go a bit faster once we hit the plains, if I remember the map correctly and nothing's changed too bad.'

'Faster?' Jack repeated, sounding a little dumbfounded. 'Bunny, I'm going about as fast as I can right now, trying to keep up.'

'Sorry,' Aster said, wincing. 'Need me to slow down?'

'A tad,' Jack said, and Aster did so. There was a sigh of relief, and Jack added, 'Not that you don't look fetching racing across the landscape.'

Aster laughed a bit. 'Ye're never gonna let up, are ye?'

'No way, it's way too fun to watch you get red through your fur,' Jack replied as Aster leapt up some piled boulders and the twisted, rusty ruins of a vehicle from the Before. 'Sometimes, it even goes up to your ears.'

'Careful, mate, or ye'll desensitize me to all of it and I'll never blush again,' Aster said, though he was pretty sure _that_ was never going to happen.

'Maybe, but I get to say things that I've been thinking for years and watch them make you all embarrassed. Even when you don't go red anymore, I'll get to say them and not get punched for it.'

'I'd never punch ye, Snowbird, even if we were just mates,' Aster protested.

'Hold on, rain cloud,' Jack said, and there was a strange crackling noise through the Wind and a great whoosh. Above him, Aster could see a grey cloud he'd been eyeing for half an hour dissipate completely. 'Fuck, I am _good_ ,' Jack said, sounding satisfied, and Aster laughed as he crossed a stretch of pavement widthwise. He was in the remains of a town from the Before, grown over and wild with grasses and trees, and he was about to cross over the the last line of houses when Jack continued, 'and maybe not, but that's not true of everyone, Bun-bun.'

'Someone punched ye?'

'Remember how I said there were a few years where I tried to pretend that I totally wasn't ass over tit for you?'

'Not in those words, precisely,' Aster laughed.

'Well, there were a few other people I ended up seeing,' Jack said. 'Not anyone in town, because just _no_ , but like people from the traders' caravans, that kind of thing.'

Aster hummed; he wasn't surprised. Jack was a good-looking bloke, and he was hardly a blushing virgin. 'And one of them punched ye.'

'Well, he kind of had a bee in his bonnet about fliers, apparently,' Jack replied. 'Fuck if I know. Last one I bothered with, because it wasn't worth the hassle.'

'He wasn't worth yer time, sounds like,' Aster said, shrugging midstride even though Jack couldn't see it.

'None of them really were,' Jack said. 'Nice people, and we had fun, but I wasn't really what any of them wanted, and they really weren't what I wanted. One of the girls said something like 'drowning our mutual sorrows', but she was kind of melodramatic. Also, in love with the caravan leader, who was like old enough to be her father and married to her cousin.'

Aster wrinkled his nose. 'Sounds like a hassle, then.'

'Exactly.'

'So, 'mutual sorrows', eh?' Aster said slyly, and Jack's laughter rang in his ears. He left the ruined town behind, leaping into the surrounding forest.

'Pining is hard work, Bun-bun,' Jack said at last.

'I could've told ye that,' Aster returned. 'Lots of heart problems, in me experience.'

'You're not allowed to yell at me for puns anymore, Aster,' Jack said, sounding absolutely rapt about it. 'That was awful.'

'Ye flew right over the point's head,' Aster shot back, 'which was that it was terrible.'

'But that – that was specially terrible. I'm kind of impressed.'

'Icepower,' Aster reminded him, and Jack laughed harder.

'Okay, that was pretty bad, too.'

'Despicable,' Aster agreed. 'Looking at track records, Snowbird, ye're much worse than I am.'

Jack squawked in mock offence, and they continued on for another few hours. Beneath Aster's feet the forests began to thin, until he left the last slender saplings and found himself staring at a flat, calm sea of green grass as tall as he was.

'It's kind of beautiful,' Jack said. 'Visibility must suck from down there, though. Can barely see you when you're running – all I can see is the grass moving after you.'

'Yeah, I can't see for shite,' Aster admitted.

'I'm going to fly lower,' Jack said. 'Makes me more visible, but I won't see anyone coming towards you from up here.'

'Given up on finding a town, then?' Aster teased.

'Nope, haven't even started,' Jack responded lazily. 'No point in looking when we won't stop until dark. We've got another few hours.'

Aster hummed his agreement to the point, and tried to ignore the unsteadying mix of nerves and anticipation that was pooled in his stomach. It was hard to do, because it was mixed with a bizarre guilt – he felt bad, thinking about such a thing, being so happy, when so many things around him were going wrong. 'How are ye holding up?' he asked Jack abruptly.

'I'm okay,' Jack said, seeming to pick up on Aster's mood. 'Anxious, because – I don't know what I'm going to find, you know? I'm kind of running on faith that we'll find Ma and Emma in the first place, much less that they'll be okay.'

Aster was silent, because what could he say? All assurances he gave right now could very well be false ones.

'But I believe they will, because Ma's tough, and Emma's brave, and I have you to back me up,' Jack continued. 'I believe that we'll find them, and I believe that everything will be okay. I believe that I really will get to go home with you, and actually live with you on your farm instead of just pretending I am.' Jack sighed, his voice wistful through the Wind. 'I want that. I want you to meet my Ma, and for you two to like each other. I want to bring them back with us and know they're living safe in the town.'

'I'd like that,' Aster said quietly, when Jack had been silent for a little while. He ran past a rotting house, the wooden planks all but dust held in place by rusting nails. 'I'd like to meet yer dam, and yer sister. If they're anything like ye, then they're folk worth knowing.'

Aster thought that Jack must be smiling, the way his voice sounded when he said, 'If they're anything like me, they'll love you on sight.'

Aster really hoped that he wouldn't be blushing and making a dipstick of himself in front of Jack's family, because the way Jack was going, he was concerned that looking a fool was guaranteed.

'And don't think I don't know what you're doing down there,' Jack said. 'I know – hold on, dropping lower – I know that you're doing some kind of self loathing thing. I can hear it in your voice.'

'I'm doing no such thing,' Aster protested, looking up to see a slightly larger dot than before. He could almost make out Jack's limbs.

'Are too,' Jack replied hotly. 'Seriously, Bunny, you have a voice.'

'And what does this voice tell ye, oh great and wise Frostbite?' Aster asked, trying to sound light and probably failing spectacularly.

'It's the same voice you used two years ago when we had that really dry summer, and your crops were the only ones that pulled through,' Jack said matter-of-factly. 'You were talking to North, and you wanted to sound happy about how well your fields were doing, but you'd passed everybody's dead gardens on your way in, and you just sounded really guilty.'

'Now, I think ye've got the wrong end of the –'

'You're allowed to be happy, Bunny,' Jack interrupted. 'You _are_. I want you to be happy.'

'I _am_ happy,' Aster replied, frustration creeping in.

'Then why don't you sound it?'

'We're in the middle of a rescue mission, Jack, and I haven't seen any other mutts all day!' Aster exclaimed, then came to a sudden stop.

'That's what's felt wrong,' Jack said, and a sound like his fingers snapping rang in Aster's ears. 'There's been no people.'

Aster stood to his full height, flicking his ears this way and that. There was only the sound of rustling grasses, and his eyes couldn't see even the distant hazy bump of a town.

'Jack,' he said. 'Fly high. See if ye can't find – find anything.'

'You got it,' Jack said, and the little dot grew smaller. 'I'm not seeing much,' he said after a moment. 'There's not a lot of water here on the plains, so that makes sense, I think. Not a lot for a town to spring up around.'

'What _do_ ye see?' Aster pressed.

'I see – uh, looks like a town maybe ten, eleven miles west-north-west of you? And maybe – oh, fuck.'

'What?' Aster said, twitching, unable to do anything.

'Uh – we've got two – fuck, three – dark spots in the plains,' Jack said, sounding sick. 'I don't know what they are, but I'll bet anything I know what they _were_.'

Aster swallowed. 'We're done for today,' he said. 'Make for that town ye see, I'll meet ye there.'

'Okay, Bunny,' Jack said, and Aster began to run. 'Watch out for the –'

'I see it,' Aster said, and leapt clear over a collapsed water tower. 'Don't worry about me, get yerself there in one piece.'

'Not in much danger this high up,' Jack said, and Aster nodded.

He could tell he was nearing the town, because he passed a few trails where the tall grass had been trampled flat. Probably a sizeable town, he'd expect, judging from the number of footprints in the dirt, or at least a town that spent much of its time wandering around.

He heard the click of a gun being cocked, and he tucked forward into a neat roll on instinct, diving beneath the shot that rang through the air. 'I'm a mutt!' He shouted, getting to his feet and holding his paws up.

'Aster!' Jack cried through the wind. 'I'm almost there, are you okay?!'

'I'm fine, hold on,' Aster said back, as a man with green skin only a touch darker than the grasses stepped out, gun pointed at the ground but tight in his grip.

'Sorry about that,' the man said, his voice higher than Aster had expected, and with a twang Aster wasn't familiar with. 'S'pose I oughtta called out first. Didn't get you, did I?'

'No,' Aster answered. 'She's apples.'

'S'pose you're out of Tardiff down south,' the man said, shouldering his gun. 'You're a few days behind everyone else, but I'll bet you have kin who'll be happy to see you. We thought we'd gotten the last of 'em.'

'Tardiff?' Aster said, dropping his paws. 'No, I'm from out east, near the mountains. What are ye talking about?'

'The mountains, huh?' the man said, frowning. 'Ain't seen none from that direction in a while. We were starting to think wasn't none left out there.'

'Bunny!' Jack said, and dropped out of the sky between Aster and the man. He spared the man a cursory glance before whirling on Aster, eyes a touch wild. 'You're alright? I heard a gunshot.'

'You two travelling together?' the man said.

'Aye,' Aster said. 'I'm Evergreen, this is Frost.'

Jack gave him a quick, hidden look, but Aster ignored it; he'd have to just hope Jack figured it out. Maybe the man meant no harm, maybe not; either way, he'd shot at Aster, and those kind of nerves? Not something Aster wanted to trust his hide on.

'He called you Bunny,' the man said.

'Nickname,' Aster said, and twitched his ears for emphasis. 'What do ye mean, ye haven't heard from out east?'

'Just what I said,' the man said. 'Ain't been no travellers nor messengers since April. Even the vagabonds who make their circuits ain't passed through. We thought the coast must've burned like Tardiff.'

'There were people left alive?' Jack said, turning back to the man.

'Not the ones who stayed,' the man said ominously. 'People been coming here to Plainston for a few months, mostly from out west, and they've been bringing tales of towns –'

'Incinerated,' Aster finished, and sighed. 'We've heard the same, but we'd heard no one's heard from west of the Sierras.'

'Can't say I have,' the man agreed, 'but if you two are from the east, wouldn't be surprised if there're still mutts out west. I'm guessing that's where you're headed.'

'Aye,' Aster said again. 'We've bizzo out towards the coast.'

'With your accent, I ain't surprised,' the man nodded. 'Probably best to head on home. Normerica just ain't safe no more.'

'Exactly.'

'Well, we can put you two up for a night in the town,' the man said. 'The inn's been emptying out as people build their new houses, so you should be able to wrangle two rooms. Hell, if you got news, old Martin might let you have 'em free.'

'We'll just need the one,' Jack said, and held out a hand. 'Don't think I caught your name, Mr....?'

'Ain't no Misters out in the plains, Frost,' the man said. 'I'm just called Burt.'

'Burt, then,' Jack said, and shook Burt's hand. 'Lead the way.'

'Keep up,' the man said, and walked back into the grass, the only sign of his passing the moving stalks. Aster and Jack followed, Jack floating above the grass silently, and the Wind flew between them in half-minute intervals, as if she didn't want to be far from either of them.

Given Burt's words, Aster didn't blame her.

  
  


'Burt says you two are from out East,' the ancient man who ran the inn said as they entered the long, single story building. They'd been unable to catch up to Burt – he blended in too well with the grasses – but they'd seen him duck into this building, though now he was nowhere to be seen. The old man leaned on the bar and cleaned a glass with the first set of his hands; the other set was wiping down the bar itself. 'What brings you to Plainton?'

'Passing through,' Aster said. 'Are ye Martin?'

'I haven't heard an accent like that in years,' the man said, smiling with a kind air. 'Aussie, no doubt about it. Yes, I'm Martin.'

'Others come through, then?' Aster said, and smiled. He took a seat on one of the stools, and Jack took the one beside him; they set their packs between themselves and the bar.

'Not for twenty-some years,' Martin said, and put the glass away. 'You two looking for rooms?'

'Just the one,' Aster said.

'I can do that for you. What news from the east, if you've got any?'

'Same news we're getting,' Jack said, swinging his legs absently. 'Towns gone. Good to hear some people are getting out, though.'

'It's reassuring, that's for sure,' Martin nodded. 'We've got double watches going on the town, and the patrols have tightened. Burt was on one when he found you two.'

'Nearly shot me, but I reckon that's him doing his job,' Aster said lightly, and Martin chuckled.

'Burt's a crack shot, so you must have been lucky. I'll get you a key, you can leave your things here. No one gets past me.'

'Appreciate it,' Aster said, and picked up his pack again while Martin fished around for a key. 'So ye lot think it's a mutt?'

'That's what we've been hearing,' Martin nodded. 'Pack of 'em, actually. Their leader's the mutt with the fire power, apparently, but since all that's been seen has been from a distance, no one knows for sure.'

'That's good to know,' Aster said. 'We'll pass on the word when we shoot through.'

'Kind of you,' Martin said, and retrieved the key at last. 'Here you are,' he handed it over to Jack. 'Last room on the right, down this hall,' he said, pointing to their left. 'Don't worry about paying – it's good just to know there's still people out east.'

'Thank ye,' Aster said feelingly. 'But I couldn't. Do ye have a garden?'

'Out back,' Martin said, looking interested. 'Why?'

'I am – was, a farmer back east,' Aster shrugged. 'I'll give her a good shot of the stuff I used there. Should keep her healthy for the rest of the year.'

Martin leaned back, visibly surprised. 'That'd be more than enough, thank you. You sure you want to move on? We could use a mutt like you around these parts.'

'Got bizzo on the west coast,' Aster shrugged. 'Thank ye for the offer. I'll swing by yer garden once we've had a moment to breathe.'

Martin waved them off with two of his hands, his left pair already reaching for the next glass that needed cleaning, and Aster let Jack lead the way down the hall, floating briskly towards his destination.

The room was small, but very tidy, a wide mattress with a thick comforter and two smooth pillows dominating the space. Wooden stands stood at either side of the bed, and a small table with two chairs sat near the door; Aster crossed over to the far side, dropping his pack. Jack did the same on the other side of the bed, silent still, and Aster looked over.

'Are ye alright, Frostbite?' he asked quietly, and for a moment, Jack didn't look at him, staring at his pack. Then, he looked up, and Aster caught his breath.

Jack was pink in the face, his eyes dilated, and he looked at Aster like he was the sun. 'You are so fucking _brilliant_ ,' Jack breathed, voice a little hoarse, and Aster felt himself grow warm.

'What?'

'With the – the names, and the story, and god, I would have just _panicked_ ,' Jack said, and floated a little higher. 'I just shut up because you were just handling it, and I... you're so shy at home,' he explained, clearly seeing Aster was a bit bewildered. 'You're so quiet except when you're with people you like, and I had no idea you could just _handle_ people like that. You could rule the fucking world, I think. You're so – so – competent? Yeah, that.'

'Uh,' Aster said, still distracted by the look on Jack's face. 'Thank ye? I think?'

'I just followed your lead, and you have no idea how bad I just wanted to – to hang off you, to hold on, to say, 'This one's mine',' Jack said, drawing nearer.

'I have no idea what yer talking about,' Aster said, but Jack's interest was a little overwhelming, and he was having a hard time getting the words out.

'I love it when you're good at things, and show off those things, and other people recognise them or are swayed by them,' Jack tried one more time. 'It's like – you're affecting people, and it affects _me_.'

Jack was near enough to touch, but there was still a hair's breadth between them, one Jack didn't seem in a rush to cross. 'I'm so, so glad you're mine,' Jack murmured.

He leaned in that last distance and brushed his mouth over Aster's.

'Well,' Aster said, holding very still, blood rushing in his ears, 'can't rightly say I understand what ye're on about, but if it makes ye happy, Jack.'

'Happy?' Jack said back. 'That's one way to put it.' His voice was breathy and low, and there wasn't much Aster could mistake that for, except for what it was. Aster swallowed. 'I think,' Jack whispered, 'I promised you a make out next time we had a bed. If I'm remembering last night correctly.'

'Ye – ye are,' Aster said, and his words came out throaty. 'Ye did.'

'Is it cool if I keep that promise now, or would you rather wait 'til later?' Jack asked, and his lips moved against Aster's with every word.

Aster broke.

He pressed forward and caught Jack in his arms, dragging him in and kissing him hard. Jack laughed in delight and dug his fingers into the thick fur on the back of Aster's neck, opening his mouth and biting softly at Aster's bottom lip. His hands let go of their hold and slid up, tugging at Aster's ears and drawing out a groan; Aster shuddered at the touch, having only had the faintest idea his ears were as sensitive as all that.

'Snowbird,' Aster said, and Jack caught the sound, licked the sighs out of Aster's mouth. He pulled on Aster, inexorable and hungry, until they lay across the bed, Aster's knees braced on the edge.

'Aster,' Jack breathed, and Aster ran his paws down Jack's sides, catching at the hem and pushing it up. His fingers slid on Jack's skin, and Jack tossed his head back, baring it to Aster's mouth. 'Aster, please,' he _moaned,_ and Aster bit as gently as he was able at Jack's Adam's apple. Jack's hips snapped up, pressing against Aster's, and Aster froze when he felt Jack hard already.

'Sorry, was that too far?' Jack panted, tilting his head back down.

'I, er,' Aster said, because he wanted to continue, he did, but...

Well, if they didn't talk about it now, Aster wasn't sure when they'd have the chance again.

'Jack, I'm a little...' Aster swallowed. 'Nonstandard.'

'What do you mean?'

'There's a reason I can run around without trousers, mate,' Aster said. Jack raised an eyebrow.

'Do you have girl parts, or something?'

'No,' Aster said, his ears flat to his head. 'No, I'm a born bloke, but it's not... shaped like yours. I don't think. And it sort of – comes out when it's ready.'

'Huh,' Jack said, sounding supremely unconcerned. 'Cool. Any chance I'll get to see it today, then, or is it like a heat kind of thing?'

'Ye're not –'

'What, weirded out?' Jack asked, and now he was smiling. 'Aster, one of the girls from the trading caravans was a snake animutt. I'm pretty sure you can't get weirder than that. And besides, not all animutts are exactly what they resemble, yeah?'

'Yeah,' Aster agreed faintly.

'So who cares?' Jack said, and kissed Aster's nose sweetly. 'It isn't a heat kind of thing, is it?'

'No, definitely not,' Aster said, and huffed out a laugh. 'Just – hidden.' He took a deep breath. 'There's something else.'

'Don't tell me you actually can have kids, because I am not ready for that kind of commitment,' Jack said with a straight face, and laughed when Aster hit him.

'No, not that I know of,' Aster said. 'Probably not, anyway.'

'What does that –' Jack started, then his eyes widened as he got it. 'You've never –'

'No,' Aster said quickly. 'I, er, didn't really ever find the time for it. Wasn't very interesting to me, to be honest. I had me work, and then I had me friends, and then – there was ye.'

Jack was silent, staring. Aster dropped his head.

'Wish ye'd say something,' he said.

'Oh my god,' Jack whispered, and Aster hunched a bit. 'I'm going to show you _everything_.'

'What?' Aster said, looking up so fast he almost cracked Jack in the chin.

'This is awesome,' Jack said, and there was only a thin ring of bright blue around the wide pupils of his eyes. 'No one's ever touched – I –'

Aster yelped as Jack flipped them over, settling between his legs and _biting_ at his collarbone.

'Mine,' Jack said, drawing away only to drop a fierce kiss on Aster's lips. 'I can't wait to show you everything, I swear, this is going to be so fucking good for you –'

'Wait, ye're making me head spin,' Aster said, catching Jack's face and holding it still. 'Ye're not disappointed, or anything?'

'Why would I be?' Jack asked. 'Are you kidding? This is the best. I always thought you would be this experienced guy, you know? And the real you is so much better. You're so close to perfect I can't tell the difference anymore.'

'Still lost,' Aster said.

'I get to show you all of this,' Jack murmured into the space between their mouths. 'I get to be the only one who gets to see this, all of these firsts – I was okay before, because what's the point of being jealous of people in the past? I was certain that if I could only get you to pay attention, I could keep you, and it was their loss anyway that they didn't. But now I get this all to myself. I swear, if we didn't need to pick up new supplies and keep going I would keep you in this bed for a week straight.'

Aster swallowed hard. 'When we get home,' he said, 'I've already done me part for the year. I'm sure I could spare a week for ye.'

'You're on,' Jack said, and grinned widely. 'But that's later. What do you want now?'

'Uh.'

Jack kissed Aster's throat, skimming the fur and nipping at the edge of his jaw. 'Nothing too big, I don't think – I'd rather do all the really fun stuff back on your bed, because this straw bullshit isn't good enough for me anymore,' he said, and Aster laughed. 'But something simple, that we can do. What do you think about my mouth?'

'It's very lovely,' Aster said, a little lost.

Jack laughed, and the sound shot straight down Aster's spine. 'I'm going to have so much fun with you,' he said, and kissed Aster fully.

His tongue was warm where it met Aster's, and now that he was assured Jack didn't care, that Jack wanted him so badly he couldn't help himself, the feeling was like a warm shock to his gut. Like he'd been afraid it would do when they'd kissed before, his cock began to peek out its sheath, and the air between them was cool on the damp skin. Jack left his mouth behind, kissing sweetly down to his collarbone, and sliding further, pausing at Aster's chest.

'So you do have nipples,' Jack said, and licked one, pushing the fur away with his lips; Aster made a noise he'd never heard from himself before, a rumbling groan from the depth of his lungs, and Jack shot him a grin. 'Awesome.'

He dragged his mouth lower, and set his teeth against the jut of Aster's left hipbone; his hips jerked up, much the same as Jack had, and his cock was fully out, hard and pink against his white-grey fur.

'It is shaped different,' Jack said, looking at it, and Aster had to work to not squirm in embarrassment. 'But not bad different. It's actually kind of pretty.'

Jack's hand closed around it, lifting it off Aster's stomach, and Aster gasped a bit, head falling to the mattress. 'I'm going to do my thing, now,' Jack said, and when Aster looked down at him, he had taken back to the air, hovering above Aster with a look on his face that was so open and desirous that Aster had to close his eyes. 'You just enjoy yourself.'

He kissed the smooth tip, and Aster jolted at the sensation, paws digging into the comforter; Jack laughed a bit, the sound vibrating over Aster's cock, and opened his mouth, sinking down.

Aster wasn't sure what to make of the warmth around him, wet and – god, so much more sensation than he'd been prepared to handle. Jack's hand and mouth left him for a second, and there was a wet sound. Then the hand returned, and stroked a little, and it was just as wet and warm as the mouth that followed.

He tried to keep his hips still, having some idea that it might be appreciated, but it was hard when Jack sucked a little, tongue moving against him and licking his own knuckle in the process. 'Snow – Snowbird,' Aster gasped out between gritted teeth, and Jack hummed in answer.

Aster's hips snapped out of his control, and he came, breathing as hard as if he'd just pulled up enough earthblood to make a mountain bloom and his paws twisting the comforter beneath them. Jack just rode the movement, and pulled away, a swallowing noise following shortly after.

'You're still hard,' Jack said, sounding confused.

'Is that – guess that's not usual, then,' Aster panted out, opening his eyes. 'Two or three times is me norm.'

Jack gave him a look that made his hips jerk again. 'When we get home,' he said lowly, 'There is so much I am going to do to you, you have no idea.'

'I –' Aster started to say, but then Jack's mouth dropped back onto him, and sucked hard. He had no warning, and went silent as he came again, one arm flung over his eyes and the other clenched in the blankets.

Without pulling away, Jack reached over and pulled on Aster's paw, tugging it until he'd settled it on his own head. Aster blindly gripped the strands, trying to be gentle, but then Jack removed the hand he'd been using to steady Aster's cock in his mouth. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, and grabbing Aster's hips and pressing them into the bed, he sank down further, until Aster could feel his lips against the soft fold of his sheath.

Aster couldn't help it. His hips jerked against Jack's hold, and he heard Jack make a little choked noise. 'God, Snowbird, I'm sorry –' he said, trying to twist away, and Jack pulled away with an obscenely wet popping noise.

'Why?' Jack asked, and for all the clarity of his tone, his voice was _wrecked_ , rough from Aster's cock in his mouth. 'Here, I'll let you know when you do something I don't like,' Jack continued, and squeezed Aster's hips tightly enough that Aster thought he could feel bruises forming on the skin beneath the fur. 'That's your signal, got it?'

'G-got it,' Aster said, and let Jack place his paw back on his own head.

'Might want to hang on,' Jack said with an audible smirk, and Aster gave a laugh that turned a little strangled as Jack dropped his mouth back down to the root with no preamble.

Jack's hands were steady on his hips, but left him some movement, which he encouraged Aster to use, until Aster was partially guiding Jack's head with his paw and the tilt of his hips.

Jack sucked hard again, and this time Aster whined with the sweep of sensation that left his muscles trembling, fingers tangled in Jack's hair and his eyes closed tight.

Jack drew off again, and Aster looked down; he was watching with fascination as Aster withdrew into his sheath. 'Neat,' Jack said, voice still roughened up, and looked up at Aster. 'Can't wait for next time.'

'Ye don't want me to –'

'No, I'm all taken care of,' Jack said with a lazy smile, and floated up and over, settling his weight atop Aster. 'When you finally started to thrust up, I kind of didn't need any help anymore.'

Aster settled his arms around Jack's waist, and Jack nuzzled the underside of Aster's chin. For a moment, Aster wished he _did_ mark like a true rabbit – it would be lovely for Jack to wear his scent everywhere – then he paused, nose twitching.

'What's up, Bunny?'

'It actually did,' Aster said, dazed. 'I've never done that before.'

'What?'

'I just chinned ye,' Aster said. 'Like – a scent mark. Anyone with a half decent nose will be able to tell.' The scent was a little earthy, a little bit like the smell of broken stems, and a little bit like the way he felt in late summer, dusty and sunwarm. It hung just beneath the scent of sex and of Jack himself, blending in with the scent of fallen leaves that Jack always carried around.

'Really?' Jack said, sitting up a bit, his arms bearing his weight to either side of Aster. 'That's – wow. That's fantastic.'

'Yeah, it is,' Aster murmured back. Something hit him then, and he grinned a bit as Jack settled back into his hold. 'Ye've got a possessive streak, don't ye, Snowbird?'

'If you haven't noticed that by now, Bun-bun,' Jack said tiredly, licking Aster's collarbone, tongue hot and wet through the fur, 'I'm gonna have to start wondering how smart you actually are. Let me take a quick nap, then we'll get moving, huh?'

'Anything ye want, Snowbird,' Aster said, smiling, and chinned Jack again, just because he could.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter of the day! And well, you should know that with the good (last chapter) inevitably comes the bad.

**CHAPTER 14**

  
  


Aster stepped out into the garden plot at the back of the inn, eyeing it. It was much like the garden plots folk kept back in Riverfield, small and strictly corralled, eking out the absolute most out of the earth. Aster had always thought them too tame, his own gardens and fields allowed to sprawl out and over one another as they wished, but seeing these tightly regimented rows and pale, dusty dirt, he had a brief pulse of longing for even Riverfield's garden plots.

The dirt seemed more alive than it had all day beneath Aster's feet, and he crouched, eyebrow quirked; not in words, but in sensation, it told him how tired it was becoming, never given a break from the business of growing the hungry food. The vegetables were smaller than ever, it relayed with an impression not unlike the tiny seeds of grass, and Aster could see that for himself. Though the plants were healthy and well tended, they were indeed small, and seemed to droop a little.

'I can fix that for ye,' he told the garden at large cheerfully, and dug his paws into the dirt, closing his eyes.

The earthblood beneath the plains was more languid than it was at home, and took longer to respond to his call. It seemed to examine him when he caught its attention, and he waited patiently for it to make up its mind. He'd never force it to do anything it didn't want to, and he was certain he could earn his keep with his bare hands, with all his experience in tending to the living things of the earth; but he'd like to give this gift to the town of Plainston, he tried to explain to it in the silent sort of speech he'd not tried to use in years. They were harbouring refugees from other towns, and food had to be tight. It would be a kind thing, he said to it, and he knew the earth was endlessly kind.

The earthblood pulsed in agreement and rose to his hands, seeping up through the earth instead of the flowing sensation Aster was used to, and it answered in far greater quantity than he had asked for. Shrugging, Aster just felt around him for the other garden plots around the town, sensing along the lines of the earthblood where the roots waited for nourishment.

Aster didn't need to speed up the growth whatsoever here; their gardens would yield at the normal times, and that was fine with him. What he intended to do was to wake the earth up a little, give her something like a long term shot of adrenaline. He poured the earthblood into the dirt itself, bolstering the minerals and feeding it with energy.

All through the town, he could feel plants perk up, shake themselves off, and stand taller, reaching for the sun with a vibrancy they hadn't felt in years. The perennials whispered to the annuals, telling them how years in the past, the earth had been this rich; the annuals responded with cries of delight. The grasses that bordered the town waved in joy and sang their triumph, and Aster sat back, satisfied.

Then he realised what, exactly, he was hearing.

'Holy dooley,' he whispered, and the plants responded, speaking _words_ he could understand, for all that they weren't in English. They thanked him loudly, and the little shoots called him things like _great tree_ and _ancient root_ ; he supposed that, to them, he seemed vastly aged, having seen more than one hundred seasons in his life. They sang his praises, and he listened and tried to memorise the sound, in case it left him again.

'My god,' he heard from behind him, and when he stood and turned, Martin was staring avidly at his garden plot. 'What have you done?'

Aster looked at it, and supposed it _did_ look a little miraculous to someone unused to what he could do. The plants had all grown a handful of inches, the few vegetables had swollen in size, and new flowers were waving gently in the breeze.

'Martin!' someone shouted – a familiar accent shading their words – and Burt sprinted into sight, his deep green skin stark against the plain wooden buildings. 'Martin, you won't believe what happened just now! Everyone and the damn pope is saying their gardens just –' he drew to a stop. 'Do you know what's going on?' he asked Aster, staring.

Aster shrugged sheepishly. 'Got a bit carried away.'

'You're god-sent,' Burt said, voice reverent. 'You've saved us all.'

'Er,' Aster said intelligently. 'I've what?'

'We've had poor harvests for years,' Martin explained. 'We had no idea how we were going to feed all these new mouths.'

'Yer soil was tired out,' Aster said, tilting his ears towards the garden, which still spoke in excited tones. 'Ye've got to switch out plots every few years if ye can't do what I can, and even I do it, to give the soil a break.'

'Soil can get tired?' Martin asked.

'Not tired like ye or me, but – used up. Minerals and such. It needs time to lie fallow.'

'We had no idea,' Martin said. 'But you've fixed it?'

'Not forever,' Aster warned. 'Maybe ten years, at most. I'd give her seven, if ye're taking in refugees and expanding food production.'

'Are you sure I can't convince you to stay, Evergreen?' Martin said, looking back at his garden. Aster chuckled.

'Wish I could, mate, but I've got to get home,' he said, and casually didn't say where home was. 'People are relying on me.'

'Then they are blessed,' Burt said. 'God, I don't – I can't believe this.'

'Knew I'd find you at the centre of this hubbub.'

Aster looked up as Jack dropped down beside him, grinning. 'You can't do anything by halves, can you, Evergreen?' he asked, and Aster rolled his eyes.

'Anything worth doing is worth doing all the way, Frostbite,' he said, and elbowed Jack a little. 'Ye find what we needed?'

'Picked up some rope like you said, and some waterskins. Traded some of the food for them, the dried meat that I have no idea why we packed.'

'For trade,' Aster said, amused. 'Good, we should be set.'

Martin shook his head, and had both sets of hands on his hips when Aster looked over. 'Bless you both,' he said. 'Don't know how you easterlies do it, but we plainsfolk stick to the old god. And if he is what we've been taught, then he is what sent you to us.'

Jack shrugged at Aster's side. 'We tend to be pretty nonreligious,' he said, 'but my Ma taught me the moon is what saved us from the End, and he still looks out for us now. Believe you me,' he said, and stuck a thumb in Aster's direction, 'I feel you on the whole heaven-sent thing.'

Aster went red, and kicked as discreetly as he could at Jack's ankle. Jack kicked back, not discreet in the slightest, and Martin chuckled.

'You two strike me as the private type, so unless you want to be kept up until morning while the whole town plies you with drink, I'd get yourselves to your room. I'll bring food for you later.'

Aster tried to protest, but Martin waved both of his right hands dismissively. 'We can spare it for you, absolutely,' he said. 'After all, I suspect everyone will be eating well for a good long while.'

Jack kissed Aster on the cheek, and led the way back to the room, smiling. 'Again, with the competence,' he said, once Aster had shut the door. 'Why, Mr. Bunnymund, I'm starting to think you're trying to seduce me.'

Aster leaned back against the door and laughed until he almost couldn't stand, and through the walls, he could still hear the voices of the plants, chattering brightly to each other at last.

  
  


'They're talking to you again?' Jack said before taking a bite of the warm bread Martin had brought in. 'That's fantastic, Bunny!'

Aster, who was still listening to the faint whispers of the plants, smiled. 'It is, Snowbird,' he said, and took the bread Jack offered him. 'I can't tell ye what it's like to hear them again.'

'And you're feeling okay, after the whole thing? Like, not tired, not hurting?'

'Not at all,' Aster said, accepting a bowl of soup as well. 'It wasn't that much, really. The earthblood wanted to come up once I'd explained what I wanted.'

'Earthblood?' Jack said, tilting his head.

'S'what me dam called it,' Aster said, nodding. 'Said it was the blood of the earth, what kept her living.'

'So it's some kind of life power,' Jack said, ladling some soup into his own bowl. Down the hall, they could hear the jubilant racket of a town in celebration, but here it was relatively quiet. 'That's so neat.'

'Dunno what it is,' Aster said, 'but it's not really me concern what people call it. So long as I've got it and can do some good with it, I don't really need to know more.'

'I think you're getting better at it,' Jack murmured through a mouthful of bread. 'Like, you used to practically go comatose, and now you just casually do it, like, no big deal, I brought your entire town back to life, no need to thank me.'

Aster chuckled. 'Maybe ye're right, Snowbird,' he said, 'but couldn't tell ye why I'm getting better now.'

'You're using it more often?'

'Nah, not really,' Aster said with a shrug. 'If anything, I'm using it less. I'm not keeping up the constant pool under me farm, for instance.'

'Then it's obvious,' Jack said, and winked at Aster, 'that it's my good influence.'

Aster laughed again, and flicked a piece of his crust at Jack's head. 'Ye're full of yerself, Frostbite,' he said. 'Who says ye're a good influence on anything?'

'I can always be a bad influence,' Jack said, and wiggled his eyebrows ridiculously.

'Ye're ridiculous,' Aster told him, and felt a great fondness resonate in his bones.

Jack swallowed down half his soup at once, drinking straight from the bowl, and then grinned. 'You love me anyway!' he sing-songed. 'Which has to make you double-ridiculous, in comparison.'

'Probably,' Aster agreed, 'but who has a town currently rabid to worship him for saving their lives? Not ye, that's for sure.'

'That doesn't strike you as a little ridiculous?' Jack said, and Aster flicked an ear in acknowledgement. 'God, I love you,' he said, and grinned when Aster frowned. 'Just – everything about you, I swear. It's great. You're great.'

'Sounds like a honeymoon phase, mate,' Aster said. 'What happens when that passes?'

'Who knows?' Jack answered, still smiling. 'Never lasted that long with anyone, and to tell you the truth, I don't really intend to try with anyone else, you feel me?'

Aster tried to talk around his heart, which had lodged itself somewhere in his throat, and had to resort to a nod.

'Besides, if our relationship can survive the roadtrip from hell,' Jack said pragmatically, 'I'm pretty sure we can live with annoying each other. I'll probably piss you off with my goats –'

'Ye're not getting goats, Snowbird.'

'– and you'll piss me off with how stubborn you get. Maybe you'll complain about my cold feet during the winter, and I'll want to yell at you with how warm your fur gets in July. You'll want some kind of fruit salad for dinner, and I'll make sandwiches anyway. I'll probably fly off without warning you and be gone for a few days, or you'll work until midnight and not realise it.'

Jack was sitting forward now, eyes trained piercingly on Aster's. 'We're going to fight, and sometimes it's going to be serious, and sometimes it won't. But you know what? I can't _wait_ to find out for sure.'

'Ye're ridiculous,' Aster repeated, and smiled a little hopelessly. 'I love ye.'

'Good, I'd hate to be the only one this deep in over my head,' Jack said smartly, and snorted at Aster's laugh. 'Come on, eat your food. I've had a long day, and I want to go to sleep and dream of your bed.'

'Our bed now, isn't it?' Aster said, and Jack gave him a look filled with the same love in Aster's breast.

'Yeah, that one,' Jack agreed. 'So shut up and eat your food.'

'Ye sure sound like an old nagging wife,' Aster huffed, but began to eat in earnest.

'That's old nagging husband, thank you very much,' Jack scolded, smiling all the while. 'If we do the whole marriage thing, anyway. I don't care either way.'

Aster finished his soup, and rolled his shoulders in a shrug. 'We can talk about that a few years from now, I think,' he said. 'I'm in no rush.'

'So you'd want to?'

'I think it would satisfy yer possessive side if ye got to see me wearing yer ring, yeah,' Aster said, and watched with no small amount of pleasure how Jack's eyes darkened.

'I hadn't thought of that,' Jack said, and drummed his fingers on the table. 'How about we revisit this conversation in, like, two years? Sound good to you?'

'I'll remember that,' Aster nodded. 'Until then, let's just be happy how we are.'

'Sounds good to me,' Jack agreed, and stacked their bowls. 'Come on. Let's go to bed.'

Aster got up and followed him over, and was lulled to sleep by the faint whistling of Jack's breath and the quiet whispers of plants he'd never really thought he'd hear again.

  
  


Aster awoke with the dawn, and took a pleasant moment to just enjoy Jack's weight. It would be the last time for a while he would have the chance to, he knew, and there was something to be said for cuddling, he had to admit. It had a new, addictive quality to it as well, now that he knew Jack wouldn't be put off by the reality of being his partner. There was a security in it.

Through the walls, in the early morning quiet of the town, Aster could hear the plants awakening, speaking to each other in sleepy undertones and nudging their neighbours awake with their roots. It was a pleasant buzz in his ears, and he twitched them this way and that, listening intently.

'Morning, Bunny,' Jack murmured, voice muffled in Aster's fur; Jack was burrowed into his side, half atop him, and had his head tucked into the space between Aster's neck and his left shoulder.

'Morning, Snowbird,' Aster said, very quiet, and Jack hummed a bit, nuzzling in. 'We should get up and get moving.'

'Another minute,' Jack wheedled, fingers smoothing down Aster's side.

Aster held firm, though, and had Jack blearily awake and sitting up before Jack could protest again. 'I know,' he said, 'but we can make it to Aztlan in another few days if we hurry, and I know ye want to get going underneath all that morning grumbling.'

'I don't mind the getting going,' Jack said, watching with a yawn as Aster bustled around the room and gathered their things up. 'It's the hour I'm objecting to.'

'Ye'll be just fine if ye can still manage the word objecting,' Aster said, and plopped Jack's pack beside its owner. 'Come on, ye bludger.'

'You sweet talker,' Jack muttered, and took his staff when Aster held it out.

Aster leaned over and kissed Jack on the cheek, grinning at the way Jack blinked up at him, confused. 'Ye're still me bludger, so it's apples,' he said. 'Come on, I know ye can fly, get up.'

'Ugh. But we're going to need to go out there and say goodbye and shit,' Jack groaned, doing as Aster said and rising up from the bed. He stretched with an impressive cracking of his back bones, and Aster chose to focus on his own paws adjusting the straps of his pack, instead of the way Jack's shirt rode up a little and the sharp lines of his hipbones peeked out from the top of his trousers. 'They're going to try to get you to stay again, you know.'

'They'll get the same answer I gave Martin,' Aster replied dismissively. 'A firm no and a thank ye.'

'Might not take no for an answer,' Jack said, scowling.

'Not like they could keep me in a place I don't want to be,' Aster pointed out. 'Ye'll fly up and out of the way, and I can outrun any of 'em. Don't ye worry, Snowbird.'

'I'm going to worry anyway,' Jack said, 'but you're right. Let's just get out of here, and get this whole thing over with as soon as possible. I'm fine,' he said to Aster's look of concern. 'I'm just not going to stop worrying over everything until we're home again and everyone's safe.'

'That's fair, Frostbite,' Aster said, and swung on his pack. 'Guess it's a bit of a gutser to tell ye to not do something I'm gonna go ahead and do anyway. Let's just try to keep each other's spirits up, mate, okay?'

'You got it,' Jack said, and picked up his own pack. 'Do we at least get breakfast?'

'Martin should have something, I'll bet,' Aster answered bracingly. 'We'll eat and get moving.'

They left the room, and walked towards the bar; Martin was standing behind it, organising the glass bottles on the wall shelves.

'Hello, you two,' he said, waving one of his hands over his shoulder. 'Headed out already?'

'Ought to get ourselves moving, if we want to make good time,' Aster said. 'Any chance we could buy some brekkie?'

'Certainly not,' Martin said, frowning. 'You've done more than enough, I'd not charge you for a bit of food. Give me just a moment, I'll have something out in a jiffy.'

Aster, suspecting that he wouldn't be able to change Martin's mind, sat down at the bar. Martin came back from the back room after a moment, holding two bowls of warm oatmeal and what looked like honey on one tray, and two glasses of some drink Aster didn't recognise on another.

'Local recipe,' Martin said when Aster gave his glass an inquisitive look. 'We call it firalter. It's a kind of tea made from a flower nearby.'

Aster nodded, and took a bite of oatmeal. It indeed had honey, and the sweet flavour was familiar on his tongue. Jack beside him dug into the food with the fervour of the just woken, and had drunk half his glass already. Aster chuckled, and took another bite.

He picked up the glass and went to take a drink, but paused. The scent was familiar, and he frowned, trying to place it. Once he had, his eyes widened, and he dropped the glass.

'Passiflora,' he said in horror. 'Ye – ye drugged the – Frostbite!' he said, as Jack slumped to the side and fell heavily against Aster. He caught him awkwardly, and tried to shake him awake, but the passiflora infusion was too strong; Jack was firmly asleep. He looked up at Martin, who was watching impassively. 'How could ye? After how I'd helped ye?' Aster demanded, but didn't really care; what was important was shouldering Jack's weight and getting out. To do so, he'd have to distract Martin.

'That's why, Evergreen,' Martin said, sadly. 'We can't let someone like you go.'

Something green moved in the corner of Aster's vision, and though he was quick enough to turn and face it, his arms were occupied with holding Jack, and so he had nothing with which to protect himself when Burt lashed out with the butt of his rifle, striking Aster firmly on the temple.

Dizzily, Aster fell to his knees, and held on tight to the weight in his arms. Hands came and tried to pull it from him, but he clung, even as gentle fingers pried him away. 'No – no,' Aster gasped out. 'No, ye can't take – that's me – ye can't...'

The corners of his vision were going dark, and he tried to remain upright, still reaching out for the precious thing they were taking from him, but his mind wasn't working; he couldn't recall what precisely it was, but he knew it was important. 'Please,' he managed to fumble out. 'Please... don't take...'

'Go to sleep, Evergreen,' a voice said, sounding reverent, and Aster hated that voice, hated that it was taking the – the precious thing, from him. He wanted to claw it open, wanted to chew through its owner's arm that was sliding around his shoulders, but he couldn't muster the strength to do more than slump backwards as his vision went completely dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> True passiflora has a significantly milder sedative effect than is shown here, and would have to be concentrated through a number of procedures to get this strong, but it can be done. 
> 
> How do I know? I have an enduring passion for malignant plants, specifically poisons/sedatives. -shrugs- We've all got our hobbies.
> 
> Also, Kayasurin? You're too clever by half. Stop that right this instant. -wags finger-


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the day - and my goodness, it's lovely to see how bloodthirsty y'all got over this, it made me giggle.
> 
> Jack is, perhaps, a touch better at planning ahead than we all thought he could be.

**CHAPTER 15**

  
  


Aster awoke into darkness, and knew immediately something was wrong.

Firstly, his head ached something fierce, and his left temple throbbed hardest; when he brushed a finger over it, it hurt so bad he saw stars. He looked at his paw, and flakes of dark, dried blood had come away.

Secondly, he'd grown used to a certain warmth beside him when he awoke, and that it wasn't there, coupled with the headache, implied something was shonky around here.

He sat up slowly, fighting through the dizziness, and leaned against the wall behind him. It was wood, and the floor beneath him, too; it was dark, with only the barest crack of dim light coming beneath a door to his left, flickering occasionally. Firelight, then, and not daylight. Campfire, probably, since it didn't feel warm enough to make him think it was the room on fire.

He twitched his nose, and could smell beneath the smoke the scent of dirt and grass. The only thing between himself and the outside was the door, it seemed. When he flicked his right ear around, his left ear laid flat and keeping a gentle, soothing pressure on the lump in his head, he could still hear the plants whispering, but they were quiet, and didn't speak to him in particular. It was night, they were whispering, and warm, the killing frosts still months away.

'Frostbite...' he whispered, and the full memory of what had happened struck him. 'Frostbite!' He said urgently, feeling around the little room – his cell, he realised. There was no one else inside but himself.

'Are you awake, Evergreen?' A familiar voice asked outside the door, and Aster scowled.

'Martin, ye filthy ratbag, what did ye do with J – Frost?' he spat, shifting closer to the door. As he did so, he realised the third and final thing that was wrong: a shoddily made, but solid, cuff of metal encircled his right calf, above his long ankle. It was connected by a long chain to a metal ring embedded in the wooden floor. 'Where is he?'

'Gone,' Martin replied simply. 'We disposed of him once we'd realised he was of little use outside of coercing you to do as we asked. We have more efficient methods than him.'

Aster froze in place, and something inside him broke. 'Ye're lying,' he said, voice steady, because there was no way someone with as much life as Jack could just be – disposed of, like he was week old trash. 'Ye couldn't have.'

'We left him in the plains for whatever animals that find him to make use of,' Martin answered. 'You don't need to believe me, if you don't want. Perhaps it will make you feel better to do so.'

'Why would ye do this?' Aster demanded. 'I helped ye!'

'You're too valuable a mutt to let just pass through, Evergreen,' Martin explained, and Aster grit his teeth at how _kind_ Martin sounded, as if he was the reasonable one and Aster just needed to be placated. 'You saved all of our lives, and you'll continue to do so. You'll make the plains live again.'

'They are alive, ye bloody mongrel,' Aster snapped. 'Ye don't need me to do anything. Ye'll be set for years if ye're careful, just let me and Frost go –'

'I told you, Frost is gone,' Martin said peacefully. 'We couldn't let him go if we wanted to. And we'll never let go of you.'

'How am I supposed to help ye tossers if I can't reach the ground?' Aster said, thinking fast. Maybe if he could get out, call to the earthblood; maybe he could use it somehow to fight back. Then he could find Jack and get out of here.

'We still don't know the extent of what you can do,' Martin said, sounding genuinely apologetic, which just made Aster want to scream. 'We won't risk it until we're sure you'll do what we ask.'

'And how, exactly, do ye think ye can make me do that?' Aster asked, acerbic, and slowly got to his feet. The chain clanked and scraped along the wooden floor despite his best efforts, and he finally stood completely upright, head swimming as he leaned heavily on the wall. 'Ye've taken Frost from me, and put him – god knows where. If ye hurt him –'

'We already have, Evergreen,' Martin said. 'There is nothing you can do. And tomorrow, we'll start training you.'

'Training?' Aster asked, a pit of dread opening in his gut.

'We'll get started proper by making sure you understand how important it is to help us and not fight,' a new voice said. Aster scowled when he recognised Burt's drawl. 'You gotta get it early on. Ain't no point in letting you think there's a way out of it. We're certain a shave and some time spent getting to know the not so friendly side of a fire will make it clear.'

'This is wrong,' Aster said, trying to appeal to what little human nature these freaks had to have. 'Ye – ye can't seriously believe this is alright! I'm a mutt, just like ye!'

'We have a saying 'round these parts,' Burt said. 'Spect you'll hear it more often now that you're here to stay. Needs must where the devil drives.'

'What does that even mean?!' Aster shouted, frustrated. 'Ye can't just keep me here! Let me go! If ye can't do that,' he said, suddenly inspired, 'keep me, but let Frost go!'

'Can't do that,' Burt said, and sounded like he didn't care all that much about it. 'He's dead.'

'No, he's not.'

There was a loud cracking noise from outside the door, and Burt cried out in surprise; there was a fleshy thump to the ground, and Aster pressed close to the door, heart flying up to his throat.

'How did you get free?' Martin said, sounding furious.

'What, you thought I could only fly?' There was a burst of noise and a shattering sound, followed by a cry of pain. 'God, you guys are fucking dumb. Bunny, are you okay?'

'Frostbite,' Aster said, and almost fell over from how lightheaded his relief was. 'I'm – I'm not good, but I'll be fine.'

'They hurt you?' Jack asked, and his voice was low and cold, dangerous in a way Aster hadn't known it could go. 'How badly?'

'Got a bump like a goog on me head, but I'm okay,' Aster reassured.

'You hurt him,' Jack growled, and Martin snarled back.

'You were supposed to be dead! If you'd just let us keep him, you would have been saving hundreds of lives! How can you sacrifice them for one mutt?!'

'Maybe it's not the right thing to think,' Jack replied, 'But I don't know those hundreds of mutts. I know him. That makes him more important. And, since you seem to think kidnapping, torture, and forcing someone to use their gift against their will is okay, I'm pretty sure I know which one is worth saving.'

'You're a –'

'Shut up,' Jack said, and there was another crack, like wood on bone. 'Hold on, Bunny, I'll have you free in a moment.' Jack's voice was less steady now that there was no one else to hear him, and Aster wished he could break down the door himself to get to Jack. The room grew cold, and Aster backed away from the door. The cold got so strong he had to grit his teeth to keep them from chattering loud enough to wake the dead, and then the hinges cracked right off the door. It fell in, and Aster caught it gingerly, setting the weight to the side.

Jack stood outside, his staff frosted over in his hands, and looked both wickedly dangerous and terribly small, silhouetted as he was by a small camp fire behind him. 'Aster,' he whispered, and flew at him.

Aster caught him as steadily as he could, and for just a moment, he let himself hold Jack close and be so grateful he wanted to cry. 'Ye're alright,' he whispered. 'They told me ye were dead.'

'They tried, that's for sure,' Jack said into Aster's shoulder, 'but I couldn't kick the bucket yet – I needed to find you, and we haven't even reached Aztlan.' Jack pulled back. 'Come on, we need to go before the next watch comes on. I think they'll be here soon.'

'Can't,' Aster said, and shifted his foot so the chain rattled.

Jack's face went blank, frighteningly so. 'They chained you up.'

'Hope ye've got some kind of saw,' Aster said weakly, disturbed by Jack's expression.

'Oh, Aster,' Jack whispered, face flickering back to life. 'Fuck. I can only do one thing, but it's going to _hurt_. I'm so sorry.'

'Better than staying here for the rest of me life,' Aster said, and smoothed a paw over Jack's hair. 'It's okay, Snowbird.'

Jack nodded, and floated back. 'Hold still,' he said, and set the crook of his staff against the cuff on Aster's leg.

The metal grew cold, then freezing, then painful; soon, it felt like it was burning, and Aster bit into his cheek to keep from making noise. His paws closed tightly on Jack's shoulders, and Jack murmured soft apologies as he worked, his free hand clutching Aster's left wrist.

With a loud crack, the metal cuff split into two and fell away from Aster's leg, and Jack supported Aster's weight as they shuffle-hopped away from it.

'I'm sorry, Aster, but I could only grab your bag,' he said softly. 'We're down half our supplies now, but what's important is to get away. Can you run?'

'I don't think so,' Aster admitted, his head throbbing. 'Me head's madder than a cut snake, and me leg –' he shook his head. 'We're gonna have to sneak out.'

'Not fast enough,' Jack said, and bit his lip. 'Aster, do you trust me?'

'With me life,' Aster replied, and Jack nodded.

'Good, you remember you said that,' Jack said, and helped Aster out of the little room.

It was a kind of shed, Aster realised, with wheels on the bottom to move it around; on the ground lay Burt and Martin. Burt was bleeding from his head, unconscious and breathing quietly. Martin wasn't bleeding from his head, but instead from a gaping wound in his top left arm. A short spear of ice pinned the limb to the ground, and Aster stared at it as Jack picked up the pack.

'I got a little mad,' Jack admitted. 'Here, put this on.'

Aster did as he was told, and Jack handed him his staff. 'I need you to hold this for me,' he said, and then waved his hand. The Wind sprang up, and sang a short, quiet series of notes at Aster.

'We'll check him over later, I promise,' Jack murmured to her, 'but right now, we need to get out of here. Remember what we practised?'

The Wind chimed, and then spread around Aster. Aster almost yelped when suddenly he was borne a few inches off the ground, and he snapped his gaze to Jack.

'She's going to help me bear the weight,' Jack said. 'I know you hate flying, I _know_ , but we need to go, and fast.'

Aster swallowed. 'I trust ye, Jack,' he replied, and Jack gave him a smile that was a little broken around the edges. 'Can't a few miles between me and the ground change that.'

'Good,' Jack said, and hooked an arm under Aster's knees, lifting him up with the Wind's help. 'Hold on, Aster. We fly until dawn, get as far away from here as possible.'

'What time is it?' Aster asked, a little disoriented at being carried, and placed his right arm around Jack's shoulders, his paw gripping Jack's right. In his left paw, he held Jack's staff tightly. The last thing he wanted to do was lose it.

'Sometime after midnight, I'm not sure,' Jack said, and began to float a little higher. 'It's okay if you close your eyes, Bunny, I won't laugh.'

'Better not,' Aster grumbled, and did as Jack suggested, pressing his forehead against Jack's temple for good measure. He could feel the earth far below, terrifyingly distant, and he held on tight as the air rushed past them, flattening his fur to his body.

Jack flew as quickly as he was able with his ungainly load – the Wind might be helping with the weight, but it was still more than his pack had weighed, and he only managed to move just under thirty miles an hour. It was more than fast enough to get away from Plainston, however, and Aster could feel how far away they were getting away from it, his sense of the earth's wakefulness growing more and more faint. When he could feel it no more, he lifted his head from Jack's and opened his eyes.

Beneath him, from horizon to horizon, was an endless rippling sea of grass, dotted here and there with ruins of the Before and stands of trees. They were flying towards the west, and as Aster watched, the sky began to pale, heralding the oncoming dawn behind them. This high up, it felt sort of unreal, and he found it hard to be nervous of falling when Jack was holding on so tightly.

'This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I told you I wanted to take you flying,' Jack said ruefully, voice hard to hear in the rushing wind, and Aster huffed out a laugh.

'Maybe not,' Aster said, 'But ye were right. The view is amazing.'

  
  


'I'm going to set us down,' Jack said almost an hour later, already descending; the earth below was growing larger, and he seemed to be making for a copse of windbeaten trees. 'We need to look at your head, and at your leg.'

He sounded for a moment as if he was pained, and Aster nuzzled his ear with his nose, an attempt at comfort.

'It's not yer fault, Snowbird,' he murmured. 'If it wasn't for ye, I'd still be there.'

'You'd have gotten out eventually,' Jack returned.

'Dunno if I would've,' Aster said. 'They told me ye were dead. If ye had never come? I don't reckon I'd be in any state to try to escape. Think they were counting on that, the mongrels.'

'I'm sorry, Aster,' Jack replied, and they were almost to the stand of trees. 'God, at least I knew you were still alive.'

'What did they do to ye?' Aster asked as they landed lightly in the centre of the copse.

'Tied me up to the ground and left me a few miles outside of town,' Jack snorted. 'I think they thought I would starve or get eaten, or something. They used rope, and I just made icicles to cut through. Morons.'

'Are ye alright?' Aster said urgently. Jack set him down beneath a tree so he could lean against the trunk, but Aster grabbed his arms and kept him from pulling away. 'Jack, tell me ye're okay, please.'

'I'm fine,' Jack reassured, and kissed Aster's left ear gently. 'A few bruises from the rope, that's all, I promise.' He gestured to the pack still strapped to Aster's back. 'Here, sit up, let me see that. You had most of the medical supplies, thank god. Let me take a look at your head.'

Aster did as he was asked, and let Jack tug the pack from him and open it, fishing around for the little medkit. He lifted his left ear from the bump, and winced as the motion made his head swim.

'Whoever it was got you good,' Jack said, and pulled out a little bottle of alcohol and a gauze pad. 'Hold this for me,' he added, and handed Aster the supplies. He felt gently around the bump and parted the fur to see better. 'Small cut only. Should be easy to clean. I'd be worried about a concussion if you hadn't just slept all day and came out fine. What month is it?'

'June,' Aster answered, and let Jack take the gauze and alcohol.

'What was your father's name?'

'Evergreen Dianthus Bunnymund.'

Jack poured some of the alcohol on the pad and began to dab at the bump; Aster flinched and hissed in pain, but stayed still. 'Your mother's name?'

'Helena Eileen Bunnymund.'

'Your name?'

'Frostbite,' Aster huffed, but paused when Jack winced, and remembered his leg. 'Snowbird,' he amended. 'I'm fine.'

'Your name, Bunny.'

'Evergreen Aster Bunnymund,' Aster said, exasperated. 'Yer name is Jackson Frost, because yer sire took yer dam's name when they married, which ye told me when ye were seventeen. It's one of the only things I knew about yer past at the time, because ye're tighter-lipped than Sandy when ye want to be. We live in Riverfield, we're going to get yer dam and sister back, and when we get home, we don't need to bother with having the marriage conversation in two years, because if ye think there's anyone else I want to spend me life with then _ye're_ the one with the concussion.'

Aster paused, breathing hard; Jack just stared at him, gauze pad held loosely in one hand and open alcohol bottle in the other. 'And ye might want to close that before it all evaporates,' he added, and Jack nodded, mute as he handed Aster the gauze pad and stuck the stopper back into the bottle. He then took the gauze pad back and began to wipe very carefully at the cut.

'Aster,' he said after a moment with a dazed voice, 'your proposal skills need a lot of work.'

'Only got ye to practice them on,' Aster said with a shrug and a wince at the sting of the alcohol, and Jack dug out another pad of gauze and a bandage.

'Well, you're going to get some practice, Bun-bun, because there is no way I can tell anyone you yelled at me until I married you,' Jack said, and Aster laughed a bit. 'Here, hold out your leg. I'll clean it up and bandage it.'

When Aster moved his leg, the muscles didn't so much hurt as they complained loudly about moving. Jack touched the band of aches with light fingers, and hummed under his breath.

'Thank god you have fur, Bunny, or this could have been bad,' Jack said. 'It's just second degree frostbite. It's going to hurt like a bitch as the blood moves back into the area, but I don't think any of the nerves died, so you should be fine by tonight or tomorrow morning.' He cleaned it with the alcohol for good measure and wrapped it tightly, and when he was done, he rested his hand on Aster's knee. 'I'm telling you, road trip from hell,' he said, and Aster smiled.

'I'm not disagreeing with ye,' Aster said. 'Now, bruises. Show me.'

'They're not even that dark, Cottontail,' Jack said, and pulled off his shirt in one movement.

Aster's breath caught, and it was as much for the sight of Jack half naked as it was for the deep purple and green bruising up and down his arms.

'Not that dark, huh?' he asked, shoving away the admiration for the much more important concern. 'Oh, Frostbite.'

Jack winced again, and Aster held out a paw. 'No, don't do that,' he said. 'Ye did what ye had to, and I'm alive. I've never been so grateful for a case of frostbite in me life.'

'I hurt you,' Jack said, and sounded small.

'Ye did what ye had to, Snowbird,' Aster insisted, and placed his paw gently on Jack's forearm, between bruises. 'Don't feel guilty for that.'

'Can't help it,' he said, and moved toward Aster, floating up and settling in his lap; the movement jostled Aster's leg, and his paw tightened in pain, which made Jack gasp.

'Sorry,' they said at the same time, and then Jack burst out laughing.

'We're both pretty beat up,' he said, and kissed Aster's nose. 'Here, I can help your head. It's got to be aching.'

He leaned back and lifted his right hand, his other gripping Aster's shoulder for balance, and it began to sparkle in the early morning sunlight that was filtering down between the tree branches. Gently, he pressed his palm to the bump on Aster's head, and the blessed coolness had Aster groaning in relief.

'That good, huh?' Jack asked with a smile. 'Next town we stop in, seriously, we are there for ten minutes and then out as quickly as possible. A shitty straw bed isn't worth this.'

Aster laughed and turned his head a bit to the left, pressing a kiss to Jack's arm. 'Not going to argue ye on that one,' he murmured against the blotchy purple skin. 'What do we still have for supplies?'

'Haven't had a chance to check,' Jack answered. 'Whatever you had in your pack. Doesn't look like they went through our stuff; didn't seem interested.'

'Then we still have the map, which means Sandy won't kill us,' Aster said with a very real relief. 'Why don't ye drag the stuff out, we'll do an inventory, and figure out what we still need?'

'On it,' Jack said, and took his hand off Aster's head. 'Hold on,' he said, and blew on the bump gently; a thin rime of ice formed and coated the injury. 'That should hold for a few minutes at least.' He floated off of Aster and towards the bag, picking it up and dumping it on the ground before beginning to sort through it.

'Oh, good,' he said, 'You had some of my clothes in here, that's a relief. There's the map. Some dried food, the rest of the medkit, the collapsible pot, your boomerangs –'

'Oh, thank god,' Aster said, and a tension he hadn't known he was carrying lifted off his shoulders.

'Right? And let's see, I think that's – what's this?'

Aster looked over to see Jack holding the roll of grey felt he'd tucked in it a few days ago, and paused. He'd forgotten it entirely.

'Aster?'

'Was saving it for ye,' Aster said with a sigh. 'Wasn't sure if I'd have a good moment.'

'For me?' Jack said, looking confused. 'What is it?'

'Well, unroll it and see,' Aster said, rolling his eyes.

Jack untied the little blue ribbon keeping the roll closed, and unravelled the tight curl of the felt. Inside, held in place by clever little strips of ribbon, were an array of double pointed metal needles in varying sizes, four to a size. They had been sharpened to a wicked point, but the metal was silvery in the middle, as if rubbed smooth by endless use.

'They were me dam's needles,' Aster said with a shrug. 'She knitted, too.'

'Aster, these aren't knitting needles,' Jack said, sounding hoarse.

'She used them a couple different ways,' Aster replied. 'On our way through Normerica, they were weapons. Could throw 'em like no one's business. When we settled down, she used 'em to knit. You were saying the other night that ye needed to make some double-sided needles, and I remembered they were stored with her other things. Thought ye could use them.'

'I don't know what to say,' Jack whispered, and to Aster's horror, wiped his eyes. 'They're – god, Cottontail, you can't even do gifts by half, can you? These were your _mother's_ , for fuck's sake. I – thank you,' he said, and rolled them up with delicate, reverent fingers. 'Thank you so much.'

'Ye're welcome,' Aster said, a bit mortified, and looked off in the other direction. 'I'm glad we still have them.'

'Me too,' Jack agreed, and began to organise the supplies. 'We should let your leg rest, and we flew, what, five hours? We've got to be at least a hundred miles away by now, I don't think we have to worry about them finding us.'

'Closer to a hundred fifty, I'm thinking,' Aster said. 'Ye did good, Snowbird.'

'Course I did, I always do,' Jack said lightly, and Aster laughed. 'I'm going to get some wood, and see if I can't find some water, okay?'

'Be careful,' Aster warned. 'Not too far.'

'Wouldn't go more than a mile from you right now, anyway,' Jack said, floating higher with a reluctant air. 'Kinda don't want to let you out of my sight right now, to be completely honest. Scared you won't be here when I get back.'

'I can't go anywhere like this, Jack,' Aster said. 'I'll be here.'

Without warning, Jack dove, and wrapped his arms around Aster's shoulders tightly. 'I was so freaked, Bunny,' he whispered, burying his face in Aster's neck. 'I woke up and they'd tied me down, and you weren't there, and no one would talk to me, and then they left – I had no idea what had happened to you until I heard one of them talking about their new prize and I put two and two together. I was so scared they'd hurt you or worse –'

'Frostbite,' Aster said back, 'I'm fine. Ye're fine. We got away, and we're safe. I love ye, and I'm so glad ye're alive, god, I'd be _destroyed_ if ye were gone –'

Jack just burrowed in deeper, dropping into his lap again, and Aster lost track of how long they sat like that, wrapped up in one another and reminding themselves that they were okay, they'd survived. 'I love you, Aster,' Jack said after a long, deep silence, 'but we need to find water. I need to go, I'm sorry –'

'I'm sorry I can't go with ye,' Aster interrupted. 'It will be fine. Leave the Wind with me, and I'll be apples.'

'Promise,' Jack said, leaning back at last. 'Promise me.'

'I will be fine, Snowbird, I promise,' Aster answered.

Jack left, and the Wind chimed at Aster, nuzzling at the little spot of ice on his head with gentle pressure. Jack was gone ten minutes, and returned with a pot of water; 'Little pond half-mile west,' he said, setting it beside Aster. 'We'll need to boil it, because my bag was the one with the water tablets. I'm going to get some wood.'

Another twenty minutes and Jack had returned, arms full of dead branches. 'Should be enough to boil the water, at least,' he said, and set about making the fire.

Aster had spent the time thinking, and finally he said, 'Jack. How do ye create ice?'

'Not sure,' Jack said back, standing away from his little teepee of wood and kindling. 'North said something once about it being moisture in the air, but what does he know? He only moves the stuff around, he can't create it.'

'Do ye think it would be clean, though?' Aster said, and Jack paused. 'What if ye melted it instead of trying to boil water?'

'Aster,' Jack breathed. 'You're a genius. I can't believe I didn't think of that.'

'Well,' Aster said, twitching his ears back and forth, 'ye're used to thinking of freezing things, not melting them.'

'Still,' Jack said, turning and putting his hands on his hips. 'What would I do without you?'

'Possibly die of dysentery,' Aster returned dryly.

Jack grinned, and picked up the collapsible pot and dumped the contents out on the other side of the clearing. 'One pot of clean water, coming up!'

It took some time – too much snow and it wouldn't melt, pack it too tightly and they had the same problem – but soon they had crystal clear water bubbling away in the pot, and Jack stirred in one of the dried food packets, making a face. 'Mushroom soup,' he moaned, visibly reluctant to eat it. 'I hate mushrooms.'

'Should've picked something else then, mate,' Aster said, and let Jack ladle him up some soup into the one bowl they had left.

It felt strange to have someone taking care of him. Aster was long used to living alone, to caring for himself when things went awry; now, Jack fussed over him, redoing the ice patch on his head often and sorting their remaining supplies into neat piles. It was good, Aster decided. Too much of it might get a bit annoying, but overall, it was comforting to have Jack around.

Slowly, the band of frostbite began to burn beneath its bandage, and it didn't take Jack long to notice Aster's gritted teeth. 'Hold on,' he said, and began to unwrap the bandage. Aster tried his hardest not to say anything, but it was hard not to hiss when the bandage's movements dragged on his fur, which dragged on the skin beneath. 'I know, Aster,' Jack said soothingly. 'Listen, what I'm about to do will make no sense, but you have to trust me, okay?'

'Ye got it,' Aster said, paws clenching in the grass beside him. 'Might want to make it quick-like, though.'

'Hold on,' Jack repeated and began to roll his hands around. Between his palms began to form snow, which he was rolling into a ball; when it had grown large enough that Jack couldn't wrap the fingers of one hand around it fully, he stopped. 'Okay, hold still.'

He broke the snowball into pieces and began to pack it around the frostbite.

To Aster's surprise, the cold was wonderful on the burning sensation, and it took him a moment to tune back into Jack's voice.

'Normally, I wouldn't put the snow directly on the wound,' Jack was saying, 'but your fur should be enough insulation. We'll leave it free to the air until the snow melts, and then we'll wrap it up again for a while, so the blood doesn't enter too quickly. That should keep the burning sensation down.'

'Maybe ye really are the nursing type,' Aster said, grinning at Jack.

Jack rolled his eyes. 'Tooth has rubbed off on me, that's all,' he said, but to Aster's delight, his ears had gone a little pink.

'I mean it, Jack,' Aster insisted, and reached out, catching Jack's chin in his paw and tilting it up. 'Ye're good at taking care of people. Taking care of me has got to be harder than taking care of other folk at any rate, I reckon.'

Jack laughed and batted Aster's paw away. 'Shut up,' he said fondly. 'I'm happy just being a messenger, really.'

'Ye could be good at it,' Aster replied.

'Yeah, well, maybe,' Jack said, ears pinker. 'Leave it alone, Cottontail.'

Aster subsided, but he liked the way Jack was embarrassed when Aster thought he was good at things. He made a mental note to say so more often.

He was so busy trying to think of ways to slip it casually into conversation that he didn't even notice when he fell asleep.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of the day. And what is that I see? Why, the sleeping never ends.  
> Nor, I'm afraid, the dreams that follow.

**CHAPTER 16**

  


_'Good on ye,' Other Aster said cheerfully, sipping from a cup of deliciously fragrant tea._

_Aster sat across the short, squat table and stared at him, because he'd written the previous dream off as a product of his exhausted mind and promptly forgotten it. Here sat the strange Other Aster once more, though, in his neat waistcoat (hadn't it been maroon before, not blue?), purple sash, his omnipresent golden, egg-shaped pocketwatch, and his long green robe slung over the back of his chair. On his nose was perched a pair of tiny golden spectacles, which he removed and tucked in his pocket beside the watch._

_'Er,' said Aster._

_'Are we going to do this every time, me boy?' Other Aster huffed. 'A dream. Ye're dreaming.'_

_'Thought so,' Aster answered._

_'I'll just bet,' Other Aster muttered, and then added in a louder voice, 'Anyway, good job on keeping Frost corralled. God knows I have a job of it in these parts.'_

_'What do ye mean, keeping him corralled?'_

_'Well, ye didn't let him destroy the town!' Other Aster exclaimed. 'Strewth, that'd be a mess.'_

_'I didn't do much of anything, to be honest,' Aster said, guilt welling up in his chest. 'Thought he was dead.'_

_'Ye gave him something to focus on,' Other Aster replied. 'Ye weren't stubbornly insistent that ye could run, for instance, or that ye couldn't fly. Ye let him save ye.'_

_'Doesn't sound like much,' Aster said, twitching his nose._

_'Ye've done more than ye could imagine, me boy,' Other Aster assured. 'There's a lot of ways this could've gone wrong.'_

_'How do ye know all this?' Aster asked, sitting forward. 'Who are ye?'_

_'Who do I look like, ye great idiot?' Other Aster huffed. 'And I know these things because we're two of a kind. I'm just on the outside.'_

_'Meaning?'_

_'Can't tell ye that,' Other Aster said, and sounded honestly regretful. 'Wish I could, me boy.' He took another sip of tea, and then said, 'So, ye and Frost?'_

_'If ye really are me,' Aster replied, ears flattening defensively, 'ye wouldn't ask that.'_

_'Too right I wouldn't,' Other Aster said. 'Which is why I'm not quite ye.'_

_'So ye and yer Jack aren't –'_

_'Seems we're out of time,' Other Aster said loudly, but Aster knew his own face well enough to spot the red flush beneath the short fur of his nose._

_'Ye might want to try it,' Aster advised, and ignored Other Aster's glare. 'I know it's yer shtick and all to offer the advice, but if yer Jack is anything like mine, than at least he won't laugh.'_

_'Ye're out of line,' Other Aster snapped. 'I'll see ye next time. Remember that Life magic can do a lot of things. Remember the fish? Ye've never been limited to plants, though of course,' and here Other Aster sniffed, 'we both know plants are worth more of yer time. Oh, and keep Frost in yer sights this time, will ye?'_

_Aster opened his mouth to say something about who was in whose dream here, and who exactly was out of line, but his sight faded into darkness, and he slipped into true sleep at last._

  


Aster blinked his eyes open, and was met with the cheerful glow of firelight and the deep darkness of night. Beside him, set firmly against his side and with Aster's arm tucked around his waist, Jack was conversing with the Wind in quiet trills and arpeggios.

'Oh, hey, Bunny,' Jack said, turning his head when he felt Aster shift. 'How are you doing?'

The innocent question reminded Aster's body that it was, in fact, in pain, and Aster winced in answer. Jack nodded. 'I'm not surprised,' he said, and turned more fully towards Aster, loosening the hold around his waist. 'Do you want more snow?'

Aster began to answer, but then, a tiny voice echoed in his head, so vivid he almost swore he could hear it in actuality.

_Remember that Life magic can do a lot of things_ , the voice murmured, and the dream came back in bits and pieces; someone – he couldn't remember their face – offering some kind of advice, some sort of congratulations? He couldn't recall exactly.

'Hold on, Snowbird,' he said at last. 'I want to try something. Can ye help me?'

'Anything, Aster,' Jack said, frowning. 'What do you need?'

'Help me pack dirt around me leg.'

'Are you sure? What about infection?'

'We'll clean it up if it doesn't work,' Aster assured. 'Sides, I'm a tough old bloke, I can handle it.'

'You're not old, Bunny,' Jack scolded, but he nodded. 'Okay, we can try it.'

'Glad for yer permission,' Aster said wryly, and shifted Jack over a bit with his elbow. Carefully, he dug down around the grasses' roots, and pried up a sizeable chunk of the sod. 'Don't want to kill the grass,' he explained at Jack's curious look. He set the sod aside, and took a handful of dirt, packing it around the burning band of skin and fur. Jack helped, and soon his leg was encased in a sizeable mound of earth.

'What are you going to do?' Jack asked.

'Something I thought of in a dream,' Aster replied, and wiggled his fingers into the dirt, not aware of Jack's answering flinch.

Below them, the earthblood awakened sluggishly, and if it could be said to yawn, it did so. I need help, Aster told it. I'm hurt.

There was a very unnerving shift in the earthblood's attention, focussing in on Aster with a speed and intensity that made him want to recoil. He held his metaphorical ground. We've never done anything like this before, I know, he said. But there's people who need me, people who are depending on me to come for them. Can ye help me? Do ye know what to do?

The earthblood answered in a more cognizant way than ever before – not quite images, not quite words, but rather like how Aster imagined the trees spoke to each other. It hummed, and Aster knew what had to be done, how much earthblood he would need, how to direct it.

Thank ye, he said, and the earthblood slid up through the earth to answer his call.

It was hard work – it didn't hurt, because he wasn't pulling up all that much earthblood, but it was very difficult. It was like repairing frost damage on the delicate plants, he realised, only it was on meat and bone, fur and skin and nerve and vein, and when he thought about it that way, it abruptly became very easy.

He couldn't tell how long it took, but when he could see again, it hurt to blink. He'd must have had his eyes open for a while, he realised, wide and unseeing, and so it took a moment for him to realise what was before him.

All around, the copse was in full bloom. Flowers he had no names for grew thick as a carpet on the ground, and the trees leaned over to form a thick roof of branches and leaves. The fire had long gone out, but the sky was lightening into dawn, and atop the mound of dirt on his leg, in the first few rays of sunlight, bobbed a single lilac-hued flower on a delicate stem.

'An aster,' he whispered.

'Bunny?'

He looked to the side, and Jack was kneeling beside him, eyes wide.

'It's been hours, Bunny,' he said, hand lifting to Aster's cheek, trembling very slightly. 'Are you – you know?'

Aster carefully lifted the aster from the mound and set it into the earth, and shook his leg free from the dirt. It felt fine, and with Jack's steadying hand on his arm, he stood. It felt no different from the other, and he turned and smiled at Jack. 'Looks like she's apples, Jack,' he said. 'Did ye sleep any?'

Jack scowled, and hit Aster in the shoulder. 'Of course I didn't, you asshole!' he said loudly, and smacked Aster again. 'You were just sitting there, ramrod straight and your eyes glowing, and everything growing around you for _hours!_ '

'Oi, I'm sorry!' Aster said, holding up his paws to ward off Jack's next whack. 'I didn't know that would happen, Snowbird!'

'Don't you 'Snowbird' me, E. Aster Bunnymund!' Jack snarled, and dove forward, wrapping his arms around Aster's neck and his legs around Aster's waist, hanging onto him for dear life. 'Do you have any idea how worried I was?!' He shouted into Aster's neck.

'I'm sorry, Jack,' Aster said more quietly, hugging Jack to his body. 'I didn't know, I promise.'

'I know you didn't,' Jack muttered. 'But – god, it could have done anything. Anything, Aster.'

Aster didn't answer, only kissed Jack's temple.

'Where does this power stop?' Jack asked, pulling back to face Aster. 'What can't you do? It's really worrying me.'

Aster shrugged a bit helplessly, because he didn't know. There had to be limits to the power, surely, and before they'd set off to Aztlan, he'd thought he'd known them. But this... where did it end? Where _would_ it end?

He held on to Jack, and hoped the answer wouldn't destroy him.

  


He gave Jack a few hours to sleep, keeping watch and stroking Jack's hair beside him. In the wake of the earthblood, the plants spoke once more, chattering joyously about the new growth, and to his delight, the trees seemed willing to talk as well.

They didn't have much by way of news from farther west; their roots didn't reach any other trees other than their own stand, and the grass was as notoriously unreliable as it was gossipy, apparently. But they told him of a number of other towns in the plains that had been destroyed, and the plants and trees that had gone with them.

_Dark fire_ , they rustled at him, branches creaking in nervousness, _fire that is not fire, and burns from within._

'What does that mean?' Aster asked quietly, to not wake Jack.

_It is fire of the self. We all burn with it sometimes. It comes at night and in the dark, when hearts go missing and roots are broken. It is a dangerous thing, Seedling, and it can consume any, from the tiniest wheatgrass shoot to the tallest redwood. It can consume you. No unrooted are safe._

'Do ye mean fear?'

_That is what the unrooted call it, Seedling_ , the trees agreed with a sway of their trunks. _Dark fire that burns and has been made to burn freely. Something has made the burning true._

'Do ye know what?'

_A walking rooted like yourself, one both unlike and like you, Seedling. You grow strong and sturdy, like one of the true rooted. This rooted did not grow. We call this seedling the Withered One._

Aster considered this, still stroking Jack's hair. As ever, the trees spoke in riddles; even as a kit, Aster had been forced to learn how to puzzle out their meanings. As far as he could tell, some other mutt was causing the destruction of entire towns, which was what he'd heard in Plainston. More importantly, it sounded like the mutt could've been like him, could've had the same gift – but something had gone drastically wrong.

'Does the mutt have a name?'

_If the Withered One does, we have never heard it spoken,_ the trees said, quivering in apology. _If any knew it, they have been consumed by the fires._

'I see,' Aster said, disturbed.

He directed the conversation elsewhere, asking after shoots and for stories of storms and seasons past, and so went by a handful of hours. When the sun was about to hit its highest point, Jack awoke abruptly, eyes flying open and hands tightening in Aster's fur.

'Ye okay there, Snowbird?' Aster asked gently.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Jack said slowly, and looked at Aster with a strange, desperate look on his face. 'You? You're okay?'

'Just a nightmare, Jack,' Aster comforted, suspecting what had wakened Jack so suddenly. 'I'm right here, love.'

Jack nodded, and relaxed a little; his grip loosened, at the very least, and he sat back. 'We should get going,' he said, beginning to float. 'I think we still have a long ways to go.'

'We should look at the map,' Aster agreed, and Jack went and fished it out of their one remaining pack. He unfolded it and set it gently on the carpet of flowers that only grumbled a little about the big whatever it was that was blocking the sun, and Aster leaned over to peer at it.

'If I'm reckoning correctly about the direction we've gone and our average speeds,' he said slowly, 'We should be somewhere around here.' he tapped a point just west of the centre of the plains. 'If we move until the sun goes down, we might just hit the eastmost Sierras tomorrow.'

'Should we start angling south, then?' Jack said, and traced a path that sloped gently down the page and bypassed most of the mountains. 'We'd miss most of the tall peaks, and might save some time.'

'Ye're not wrong,' Aster said, 'But that all through there is desert. I remember passing through it as a kit, and being confused as to why we'd gone back to Australia.'

Jack laughed a little. 'So I guess it's a choice between the desert and the mountains,' he said. 'What do you want to do? I fly, so it's not my poor feet that's got to choose.'

'I think we should go by the desert,' Aster decided after a moment. 'Mountain winds can be pretty dangerous. Hate to have ye fly off course where I couldn't find ye.'

Instead of the chuckle he'd been hoping for, Aster watched as Jack's face somehow went whiter than it already was. 'Frostbite?'

'I'm fine – just, nightmares,' Jack said, still pale. 'Sorry, I was –'

'No need to be sorry, Jack,' Aster said, and nosed at Jack's temple. 'I've been having strange dreams lately meself. Don't worry.'

'Not like this, Bun-Bun,' Jack said, eyes haunted. 'I keep seeing my – never mind.'

Aster frowned. 'Yer what?'

'Later, Bunny,' Jack said, and sounded desperate again. 'Just – maybe later, yeah? We should get going.'

Aster nodded. He wasn't going to press, and he caught Jack's hand gently. 'Ye don't have to talk about it, Jack,' he said, then added wryly, 'me best friend told me once that talking about things before ye're ready is just as bad as not talking about them.'

Jack snorted and smiled. 'Sounds like a smart guy,' he said, and was looking better already.

'One of the smartest I know,' Aster said honestly, and Jack grinned, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Aster's mouth.

'Soon, I think,' he said against Aster's lips. 'When I'm not so scrambled in the brain because of those assholes in Plainston.' He pulled back. 'Ready to go?'

'Absolutely,' Aster replied, and shouldered the supply bag, cinching it into place. 'Talk to ye soon.'

'I'll keep an eye out,' Jack promised, and took off into the air.

Aster paused a moment to say goodbye to the plants and trees.

_Be careful, Seedling,_ the trees said, and their branches shook. _You must not fail._

'Watch yerselves,' Aster responded, then frowned. 'Fail? At what?'

_Many different Seedlings depend on you,_ the trees said. _You must stay strong. Watch your breeze and keep your roots in the earth, though you may find yourself only among clouds. Know that the rooted are always with you._

Aster knew he'd not get a clearer answer from them, and nodded. 'Sunlight warm ye,' he said in farewell, then aimed himself southeast and began to run.

  


That evening, having travelled a decent distance and settled somewhere in the great plains, Aster attempted to both watch Jack in the firelight, and to look like he was doing no such thing.

Jack had landed after hours of silence, told Aster that he'd seen at least eight dark spots as they'd travelled gradually south, and had said nothing since. Aster didn't push for conversation, because when Jack was in this kind of mood, there was nothing that could make him speak more than two syllables at a time. The last time Jack had gotten like this, it had been after a major blue with Nick when he was seventeen over how far he was allowed to travel from the town. When Aster hadn't heard from the boy in two weeks, he'd found an excuse and gone into town, only to find Jack was hiding on the roofs and refusing to speak to anyone.

Apparently, he felt awful about something he'd said to Nick (Aster had only been able to find out that the fight had turned to the topic of Jack's father, and no more), and what Aster knew now to be grief coupled with the guilt had reduced the normally cheerful, chatty boy's voice to nothing.

Aster had taken it upon himself to lift Jack's mood, and had tried speaking to him twice on two different days, and gotten nothing. It was only when he'd travelled to the town and sat with Jack in silence until he was ready to speak that Jack had been able to shake the slump and find a way to apologise to Nick.

So, from hard-won experience, Aster knew that the best thing for Jack right now was silent company. He kept quiet, building the fire and holding out the pot for Jack to conjure snow into.

Dark settled more firmly around them, the stars above growing strong and thick. Aster busied himself while waiting for the snow to melt with pulling up a tiny amount of the earthblood up, just enough to waken the grasses around them. The grass answered with cheerful waving and stretching in his direction, against the pull of the wind, and talked about nothing of consequence. They kept referring to him as Seeder, and Aster had to resist wrinkling his nose every time they said it.

After about the fifth iteration, he was startled by Jack's very human voice asking, 'What are they saying?'

Aster looked over, and Jack was watching him, a reluctant smile on his lips.

'They're talking about the possibility of rain,' Aster translated. 'Normally, rain in these parts can be messy this time of year, apparently. Something about great winds, dangerous cyclones? Tall gales in the shape of towers. Sort of hard to translate.'

'Tornadoes?' Jack said, and shifted closer. He'd sat about two feet away, clearly wanting his space, so Aster counted the shifting as an encouraging sign.

'Maybe,' Aster shrugged. 'Dunno what that is.'

'Definitely tornadoes,' Jack said. 'But as fun as I might think they are, they might be bad news for you. Let's hope it won't rain.'

Aster cocked an ear to the grass. 'Nothing for a few hundred miles, apparently,' he said. 'Then again, grass can be a bit shortsighted – no, don't ye lot get stroppy, it's true –'

Jack started to laugh, and moved closer again, within reach of Aster. Aster didn't take advantage of it; Jack would be clear when he wanted Aster to touch him. 'It's okay, guys,' Jack said, and held out his hands. 'He says rude stuff all the time, believe me.' He paused, and looked over. 'Can they understand me?'

Aster grinned, because the grass was stretching towards Jack and murmuring delightedly about the unrooted who actually spoke to them. 'Oh, yeah,' he said. 'Happy to be yer translator, Snowbird.'

Jack gave him a brilliant smile, and moved the last distance to sit snugly against his side. 'Cool,' he said, and turned to the grass all around them. 'So what do you guys do all day?'

They passed a pleasant hour or so this way, a constant circle of understanding – the plants didn't need Jack's words translated, and Aster was happy to let himself become little more than a conduit for their conversation, putting one of the last packets of food into the water and handing Jack one of the spare shirts. Jack seemed rapt with the idea that he was actually talking to plants, and had significantly more patience for the grasses' nonsense than Aster had. He was sure it was the novelty, and if Jack had to listen to grass day in and day out the way Aster had as a kit, he'd quickly lose the shine off them.

Then again, Aster may have not cared too much about the topics that came up, all boasts about having lasted months longer than this patch or having grown taller than that one, but the sound washed over him like a warm bath. He'd not known that he'd been missing so large a part of himself.

'This is so neat,' Jack said at last, as Aster gave him the bowl of soup, 'but I should let you guys rest. It's getting late.'

The grass chorused assent, talking about the stars and how this constellation was too high for them to still be so awake, and began to quiet down. Jack swallowed down his soup quickly, and handed the empty bowl back to Aster, making a bit of a face. 'My kingdom for some of your raisin bread,' he said mournfully, and Aster laughed.

'When we get home, Snowbird, I'll make ye a loaf all for yerself,' he promised, and took his share of the soup.

'That sounds nice,' Jack said, then added once Aster had finished his share, 'you really think we'll make it home?'

Aster frowned. 'Course I do, Jack,' he said. 'That's the plan, anyway.'

'I know,' Jack said, and swirled his finger in the dirt. 'But after Plainston, we got so close to never even making it to Aztlan, much less home. What if we just – disappear? What would North think, and Kath? Tooth and Sandy?'

'They'd grieve, I reckon,' Aster said seriously, because Jack's questions didn't carry the air of being rhetorical. 'North would be pretty broken up about it. But we're not going to have to find out.'

'We wouldn't find out if it _did_ happen,' Jack pointed out darkly, hunching into himself. 'We'd be – gone. Incinerated, or imprisoned, or –'

'Jack,' Aster interrupted. 'I'm not gonna let that happen to ye.'

'And what about you?' Jack returned, looking over with worry-dark eyes. 'What if something happens to you? I wouldn't have made it this far if I didn't have you. In a lot of ways.'

'Arguably, ye'd be farther,' Aster said, but the joke fell flat. 'Snowbird,' he said after a moment, 'here's what's going to happen, alright? If something happens to me, ye're going to keep going to Aztlan. Ye're going to find yer dam and yer sister. Ye're going to go home to Riverfield. And then, I expect ye to take good care of me farm, because that place means a lot to me.'

Jack nodded, eyes dropping to the ground. 'And – if something happens to me?' he said.

Aster paused, to try to work through the knot of grief and pain that threatened to overwhelm him at just the thought. 'I'd give ye a proper burial, if I can,' he said slowly, the words hurting his throat. 'Then I'd continue to Aztlan. I'd bring yer dam and yer sister home to Riverfield. If they wanted, I'd give them a home at me farm. God knows I wouldn't be able to live there alone anymore, not with ye gone. And then – I'd do me best to keep living.'

Jack pressed into his side again as he sat. 'You promise?'

'Not sure what kind of life it'd be without ye,' Aster admitted. 'But the town needs me, and I know ye'd hate it if I just withered away.'

'I really would,' Jack said, and turned his head to press into Aster's shoulder. 'Is it weird that having talked that out made me feel better?'

'No,' Aster assured, and kissed the top of Jack's head. 'It's good to have backup plans.'

'It's kind of morbid,' Jack muttered.

'Maybe, but better to be morbid and prepared than oblivious and caught unawares,' Aster said. 'I feel better knowing at least we're going to get yer dam and sister back one way or another.'

'Yeah,' Jack said, and kissed Aster's shoulder. 'We should get some sleep.'

'Anything ye want, Snowbird,' Aster said, and helped Jack unroll their last bedroll and put out the fire.

They curled up on the mat and held on tightly, even once they fell asleep.

Aster watched in his dreams for a face he thought he should know, but all he dreamt of was dark fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jack. Goodness, nightmares on top of everything else? Of course, they're only nightmares if you're afraid of them, or don't understand them. -grins slowly-


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter today! And with it come some answers you lot have been looking for - and a whole lot more questions.

**CHAPTER 17**

  
  


Like Aster had thought, they were within sight of the Sierras by the next afternoon.

Originally, he'd thought they'd see the mountains by midday, but when he'd recalled they were travelling south as well as east, it made sense that the peaks wouldn't be visible for a longer jaunt. They stood imposingly in the distance, and Aster thought they were making the right choice in angling for the desert. Something about the mountains had him uneasy.

Jack flew relatively low, always within sight, and the Wind was all but plastered to Aster's side, providing a constant link, even if all they said was the occasional question or a warning of some obstacle hidden in the grass. Aster was glad; though he still couldn't recall the strange dream that had given him the idea of healing himself with the earthblood, he recalled now the near-familiar voice telling him to keep Jack in sight.

He didn't put much stock in dreams, as a general rule. He'd spent too many dark nights as a young buck after the – loss – of his parents, wrapped up in nightmares and dreams in which they came home, to ever really get into the practice of trying to decipher the things. This dream stood out in his head as having been more solid, though. It carried more weight.

He skirted the edge of some ruins – the remains of some burg in the Before, metal skeletons of vehicles and rotting wood collapsing to the earth like wilting flowers – and spared a glance heavenward again. Jack was exactly where he'd been before, keeping pace with Aster and scrutinising the ground just before them.

And less than a few hundred feet above him, another flier.

'Jack,' Aster said quietly, and Jack hummed back in answer. 'Ye're not alone in the sky.'

Above him, Jack turned idly onto his back, as if he was choosing to fly backwards for a time; 'I see them,' he replied softly. 'Looks like some kind of an animutt. Hawk, maybe, judging from the way they're gliding.'

'A problem, do ye think?'

'They're not dropping lower,' Jack answered, and flipped back over. 'Or changing course now that I've seen them. I don't know.'

'Roger,' Aster said. 'Prefer if ye were a bit lower, mate.'

'Got it, Bun-bun,' Jack replied, and dropped to fly maybe ten feet above Aster, the grass below rippling in his wake. They went a few dozen miles further, but the flier remained steady above them. 'We should stop,' Jack said abruptly.

'What? Are ye crazy?' Aster asked, startled. 'I'm not feeling confident on the presence of other mutts at the moment, Snowbird.'

Jack was nodding seriously when Aster glanced up. 'I know. I'm not feeling too hot on the idea, either. But I figure if we stop, they'll keep moving, or come down and talk to us – and, if they want to start trouble, it gives us a minute to get ready.'

Aster frowned, but could see the sense of the plan. 'Alright, Frostbite,' he answered. 'Just – keep yer staff nearby, and if they even move funny, don't think about it, just go.'

They came to a gradual stop, and Jack landed beside Aster, staff held loosely in his right hand. 'I'm not leaving,' he said quietly. 'They can keep up with me. You have a better chance of getting away.'

'Not the point, mate,' Aster said back as he shrugged off the pack and set it on the ground, taking up his boomerangs. 'If I ran, it'd be to lose them and turn right around and attack, or to draw them off.'

'God, we're both too stubborn by half,' Jack snorted. 'Let's hope it doesn't come to that, then, huh?'

'Fingers crossed,' Aster agreed. They watched the far off dot grow larger.

It was indeed a hawk animutt, great wings each nearly twice as long as her body, and she dove; Aster tensed, and almost threw, but saw at the last minute that she was heading for a point some feet to their right, and held back.

She landed with a great blast of air, graceful, and when she looked up, she bore a beak and piercing yellow eyes that studied them both with great interest. She folded her wings tight to her sides, and Aster realised she had no arms.

'Hello,' she said, and her beak clacked around the word, making her a touch difficult to understand. 'Where have you come from?'

'Think that might be a question we should be asking ye,' Aster said, and she tilted her head nearly horizontally at him. It was deeply unnerving.

'I am from the city of Cirrus,' she said, and the sibilants rasped and hissed past her beak. 'A city which you near. I am patrolling. Where have you come from?'

'Far east,' Jack piped up, to Aster's surprise. He'd thought, after the way Jack had remained mostly quiet in Plainston, that it would be the same here; clearly, though, the time to prepare himself had done him some good. 'We're headed to the coast.'

'Indeed?' she said, and blinked now at Jack, twisting her head in the opposite direction. 'We hear there is little left there for travellers. Save ruin and dark fire.'

Aster flinched, and she flicked back towards him with the speed of an apex predator sighting its favourite prey. 'You have heard of the dark fire,' she said. 'You know something.'

'Very little,' Aster admitted.

'Then you must come with me.'

'Uh,' Jack said, waving his left hand and tightening his grip on his staff, 'can we not? Last town we were in didn't react kindly to us.'

'If you were any other mutts. Then no. Cirrus would not welcome you,' she conceded. 'We would meet you with talon and tooth. But you fly. And you are an animutt,' she said, twisting her head disconcertingly between Aster and Jack. Aster suspected she couldn't move her eyes, and so was forced to move her head to compensate. 'The both of you will act as a single mutt for your visit.'

'Is it still a visit if we can't choose to not come?' Jack said, his knuckles white.

'Yes,' she said. 'Follow me. You may remain on the ground,' she directed to Aster. 'If you can jump.'

'I can do that,' Aster agreed.

'Then follow.'

She unfurled her massive wings and flapped hard; though her mostly human figure within the wings proved to look awkward amongst her plumage, she tucked her legs up and was gaining altitude quickly. Jack took off and followed, and Aster after him. The Wind remained clear between them both, and Jack whispered, 'What do you think she meant, act as a single mutt?'

'Couldn't tell ye, Snowbird,' Aster admitted. 'Maybe as some kind of single guest unit? Part of the same party, maybe.'

'Somehow, I don't think that's it,' Jack responded, and his voice was ominous.

After about twenty miles worth of running, the grass began to fade away into scrubland, and then into dirt with scatterings of plant life; it took him a moment to pick it out, because it blended so well into the landscape, but they were aimed at a great fissure in the earth, several miles across and hundreds of feet wide. Aster remembered seeing things like this as a kit on the way through Normerica, and feeling infinitesimal beside them as he and his parents trudged their way around the deep edges. As an adult, he wasn't surprised to find the feeling unchanged, and he followed Jack and the woman right up to the edge.

It stretched out dizzyingly below, and Aster had to pause to catch his breath at the sight of it.

'Welcome to Cirrus,' the woman said.

'A beaut of a city,' Aster said, and he had a feeling that if the woman could smile, she would have done so.

Worked into the rock like the holes of woodpeckers in the trees back home, caves and exposed walkways honeycombed their way up and down the cliffsides. Everywhere Aster looked, he could see some kind of bird animutt – from the tiniest sparrow to the largest vulture, every mutt who made their home here was visibly a flier, and though he peered closely, none of them flew like Jack.

'We will need a name to call you. While you visit,' the woman explained, turning her head slowly to each of them. 'I am Kivi. Who are you?'

'Evergreen,' Jack said, jutting a thumb at Aster at the same time as Aster twitched his ear towards Jack and said, 'Frost.'

'No.'

'Er, what?' Aster asked.

'No. You are to be a single mutt in this visit. The two of you together. You will not be allowed in Cirrus otherwise.'

'What does that mean?' Jack insisted, edging closer to Aster.

'You will be treated as one – entity. Same person. Between the two of you. A single mutt,' she explained. She turned her yellow eyes on Aster. 'You are the animal.'

'Oi!'

'Shut up, Bunny,' Jack whispered, elbowing him.

'You are the flight.'

'At least she didn't insult _ye_ ,' Aster muttered back.

'Only those who carry animals in their hearts and flight on their wings may enter Cirrus.' Kivi stated. 'You will act as one mutt. What is your name?'

'Not sure it's that simple,' Aster tried to explain, but Jack elbowed him again.

'Everfrost,' he said, and Aster huffed; that just sounded ridiculous.

Kivi nodded, though, and looked satisfied with this answer. 'Then I take you to Queen Erinyes,' she said. 'Are you ready?'

'Suppose we haven't got the choice,' Aster grumbled.

'No. You do not,' Kivi agreed. 'Follow.'

She dove down into the deep fissure, great wings like sails in the wind, and Aster leapt after, aiming for a ledge some ten metres below. He ran quickly, following her lead, and Jack hovered along just beside him, staring around at the impressive city; Aster just focussed on ignoring the stares he could feel on his fur. They were certainly sticking out like sore thumbs, Aster'd tell you that for free. No other mutt had fur that he could see (big surprise, if Cirrus was only home to bird animutts), but he was used to being the only one with fur around. Jack, though, looked strange as well. He bore neither wing nor feather, and looked small amongst all of the mutts that filled the air.

They followed Kivi down and down, to a point maybe three hundred feet below the surface and six hundred feet above the bottom of the canyon, and Aster was intensely grateful there were as many ledges as there were, and that the canyon narrowed as they dropped lower. Had it been as wide across as it had been above, he wasn't sure he'd make some of the leaps in one piece.

She landed with a gentle swoop, and Aster dropped to a stop beside her. Jack floated just over his shoulder, and one of his hands dug into the fur of Aster's shoulder.

'Follow. Queen Erinyes will see you shortly.' With that, Kivi strode off into the depths of the cave, her massive wings folded tightly to keep from trailing on the ground.

Aster did as she said, and had to force himself not to gape around like a kit shown to a bakery.

He'd thought, when he'd seen the caves from above, that it would be a dim sort of tunnel; instead, though the ceilings were low enough that even with his ears flattened he had to stoop a little, they were well lit with little glass lanterns that reminded him of those in his own home.

The stone was a soft peach-red colour, and beneath his feet, deep in the rock, were little veins of earthblood.

He'd never felt it so close to the surface. He supposed they _were_ three hundred feet below the ground, but the circuitous web the veins made throughout the cave-city were healthy and bright, and trembled at his passing in joy as if they were plants themselves. He discreetly brushed a paw against the wall as they turned down another hall, and the earthblood pulsed in glee.

At that moment, Kivi shot him a suspicious look, but since he returned it with as much innocence as he could muster ( _can she feel that?_ he wondered), she returned to leading them deeper into the cliffs.

At last, they reached a small, round chamber before a wooden door carved with hummingbirds. 'Stay. I will announce you.' Kivi spoke with an imposing tone that had Aster tensing, and opened the door with her left foot, shifting her wings back and lifting her chin. 'Queen Erinyes,' she called into the revealed chamber. 'I bring someone whom you wish to speak to.'

Aster didn't hear the response, because for the first time in his life, instead of just feeling or otherwise sensing the earthblood, he could _see it_.

Throughout this room were pulsing veins of brightness in the walls, like crystal or gem, shining brightly and yet casting neither shadows or light on the contents of the room. When he peered closer at the lights, he could see rivulets of green shot through the light.

'Bunny?' Jack whispered, and Aster shook himself out of it.

'Sorry, Snowbird,' he murmured back, and let Jack lead him into the room.

He'd been so caught up in the earthblood that he'd completely overlooked the woman in the middle of the room.

She was imposingly tall, almost as tall as himself, if Aster had to guess, but as she was sitting upon a wide sofa woven from branches, he couldn't tell for sure. She was covered entirely in soft grey feathers, and though she had arms, they were utterly overshadowed by her massive wingspan. Maybe ten metres each, they lay behind her in a relaxed sprawl, and she watched them come near with eyes the same colour as her feathers.

'Neither of you are bird,' she said, and her voice carried the distant hoarseness of one who has run their words ragged. 'Kivi tells me I must see you, though.'

'They will be the same mutt. I have explained,' Kivi said, settling into a bizarrely comfortable looking crouch at the Queen's feet. She looked tiny beside her, which only made Aster feel smaller.

'Not clearly, judging from their faces,' Queen Erinyes said, sounding amused. 'We welcome few visitors to our city who do not fly as the birds do. Those who are welcome must meet those requirements, whether on their own or with assistance. What is your name?'

'Everfrost,' Jack said, and she gave him a look that carried a physical weight, from the way Jack sank an inch underneath it.

'A true name, I suspect,' she said, and inclined her head. 'I am Queen Erinyes. Whilst here, you shall each be responsible for what befalls the other, and receive the same boons. Is this agreeable?'

'Suppose we haven't got much choice,' Aster sighed. The Queen flicked her gaze to him.

'There was one who passed by us once, before I was queen, who spoke much the same as one of you,' she said. 'I know your voices now. You are the Earth-waker and the Storm-maker, come at last to my halls.'

Aster frowned. 'Er, the what now?'

'The stories did not say you would travel together, though. Nor be the same.'

'We're not,' Jack denied, and bore up under her returned gaze. 'I respect your customs, seriously, but we're not actually the same person.'

'I know that well,' the Queen acknowledged. 'It is impossible for you to be. I apologise for offence given, Everfrost.'

'S'alright,' Aster said uncomfortably.

'One of you watched my walls as you entered,' she said, and her gaze almost hurt to hold. 'Why? What did you see?'

'It's sort of hard to explain,' Aster hedged.

'Is it part of why Kivi brought you to me?'

'Reckon,' Aster nodded. 'It's – there's a source of – well, life, in the earth. I've never seen it in person before. To be honest, didn't think it was visible.'

'You can see the ground hums?' Queen Erinyes' gaze grew more intense, which was impressive, in Aster's opinion, since he'd been quite certain it was impossible to do so. At least now he knew why Kivi had noticed the earthblood's pulsing; they could hear it. 'You can speak to the earth? You are indeed them, then.'

'Uh, not gonna lie,' Jack said, 'I'm feeling pretty lost.'

'I cannot explain further without endangering you, Everfrost,' the Queen apologised. 'I can only offer you safe shelter for the moment, and ask that whatever draws you on, succeed at it.'

'They know of the dark fire,' Kivi piped up, her beak clacking in her haste to get the words out.

'I heard it from a tree,' Aster admitted at Queen Erinyes' sharp look. 'Mostly.'

'That sounds like a story,' she said.

'Not exactly. The trees said something about another mutt like me, but one who didn't become like me,' Aster elaborated. 'He – withered. The trees call him the Withered One.'

'We have heard similarly,' the Queen mused. 'A mutt with an entourage of dark beings. He brings fire and ruin, consumes towns in a single hour and never sates his own hunger.'

'That's...' Aster began to say, and then couldn't find words to simultaneously explain his disbelief and horror.

'Godawful,' Jack finished, 'but, uh, what exactly does that have to do with us?'

'With your goal, Everfrost, it has nothing to do at all,' Queen Erinyes replied, tapping her feathered fingers on her lap. 'With you? Everything. You will know when the time comes.'

'And how do ye know anything about this?' Aster asked, frowning.

'There have been stories, since just after the End,' the Queen said. 'And that is all any will tell you. There are stories and warnings if we had thought to look for them, and now we pay the price for not keeping our histories intact.'

'I'd like to say I understood what ye just said,' Aster admitted, 'but I'd rather not lie to ye.'

'I thank you for that,' the Queen said. 'No more of this. We are glad to offer you shelter on your journey.'

'One thing,' Aster requested. 'Ye said, before, there was someone who shot through who sounded like me.'

'An animutt and his wife, their child young between them,' she answered.

'Was the man about yea high,' Aster asked, holding his paw just under his chin, 'with red fur?'

'That he was,' the Queen nodded. 'Do you know him, Everfrost?'

'He was me sire,' Aster said. 'I was the kit. Why don't I remember ye?'

'One of you was the child?' the Queen paused, and looked Aster over. 'The child was grey and furred, as one of you are. When I met with the animutt, it was a brief, chance encounter as they passed through the desert into the plains. The child lay asleep, in the woman's arms.'

'That'd be why, I suppose.'

'The world is strange, in my experience,' the Queen said. 'Go now. Kivi will show you to a room we keep for guests. I am glad to have met you, Everfrost.'

'Yeah,' Aster managed.

'Thank you,' Jack said politely.

Kivi stood again with a shake of her wings and bent her head to Queen Erinyes. 'Thank you. My Queen.'

'Fly fast,' the Queen called after them in farewell as Kivi led them from the room, and Aster had the unsettling feeling it was both a goodbye and a piece of advice.

  
  


The room they were shown to was small, but the bed was much softer than the ground, and Jack flopped onto it from above as Aster thanked Kivi.

'Food can be found in the kitchens. To your left and down the stairs,' Kivi said. 'They will feed you whenever you come. Many of us are nocturnal. It will not trouble them. Rest well.'

'Thank ye. We will.'

'Fly fast.'

Without thinking, Aster opened his mouth and gave her the some parting words he'd given the trees. 'Sunlight warm ye.'

Kivi chirped a bit, to his surprise, and left, head held high and her yellow eyes warm.

Aster shut the door, and turned around.

'Still not as good as your bed,' Jack said, muffled, and Aster laughed, taking a seat beside him and tucking the pack into the corner of the room, beside a small spring that poured out of the wall and was caught in a dish before draining back out. Jack squirmed over, until he made a snug u-shape around Aster's back, feet tucked up behind him and elbows hooked around Aster's right hip. 'That was weird. This whole thing is weird.'

'I don't think it will go as badly as the last time we stopped somewhere,' Aster hummed, and settled his palm on Jack's head, smoothing down the white strands. Jack pressed up into the touch, and with a tired-sounding hum of his own, the Wind sprang up beside them. She ran herself down Aster's arm before nestling around what felt like Jack's throat. 'I don't think the earthblood would be so – strong, if they were bad here.'

'You're probably right,' Jack said, and curled tighter around Aster, resting his forehead against Aster's thigh. 'Can I – can I talk about the dreams?'

Aster didn't pause in his petting of Jack's head. 'If ye want.'

'I think I'm ready,' Jack confirmed, and nosed at Aster's hip in a way that made Aster's mouth feel dry before sitting up. He pulled Aster around and arranged them with a production of fussing until they were tangled in the middle of the bed, Jack lying atop Aster and with his chin tucked into the hollow of Aster's throat.

'I wish the dreams were scary,' he started at last. 'That sounds really dumb, but I do. If they were scary, it would make sense why I'm so afraid of them.'

Aster kept quiet, but chinned the top of Jack's head, renewing the scent. Jack nuzzled up into it, and wormed his arms underneath Aster's middle, holding tightly.

'I keep dreaming of myself,' Jack confessed, and Aster fell still. 'Like, a me that's not me, and we talk. I don't always remember about what. He sounds – well, really different from me? Like, both young and old, and he seems way less happy. He's got that sweater from Tooth on, and has my staff, but he looks all wrong. Too short, for one thing. And skinny, like he's sick.

'When I woke up yesterday, I couldn't remember most of what I'd dreamed. But I did remember that he looked really angry, and really, really fucking scared. Right before I woke up, he told me 'don't let Bunnymund out of your sight – if you lose him now, you'll never find him again'. Then he got this really awful look, and said, 'you can't let him die', and I wanted to say something back, but –'

'The dream faded,' Aster finished.

Jack sat up, his eyes wide. 'Aster?'

'I've been – dreaming, too,' he said, winding his thickly furred fingers into Jack's hair. 'Of meself. He's not me, though – he's taller, and wears waistcoats and things. Seems real enamoured of eggs. He told me –' Aster struggled to remember. 'Not to let ye blow the town down,' he said at last, the memory struggling to the forefront of his mind. 'Before we left Riverfield. He was talking about Plainston.'

Jack had paled considerably. 'Oh, fuck,' he whispered. 'I thought – but, if you're having weird dreams too...' he dropped his head to rest on Aster's chest. 'God, it's real, isn't it?'

'I dunno, Jack,' Aster said truthfully. 'I couldn't tell ye what it all means.'

'Why does this feel so huge?' Jack murmured into Aster's fur. 'It felt big when we left for Aztlan, and it feels like it's just been growing and growing –'

'Jack,' Aster interrupted firmly. 'I know. Ye're panicking.'

'You're not?' Jack snorted, fingers curling into claws beneath Aster.

'No, I'm not,' Aster said, and sat up, too. Jack remained where he was, and so ended up slumped against Aster's chest, perched over his lap. 'Because me dam told me there was no point to panicking over what ye don't know. We're going to get yer dam and sister back, that I know. Anything else that pops up, we'll deal with, I promise ye, but don't lose what we came out here for.' He took Jack's face in his hands and pulled it up, so Jack had no choice but to look in his eyes. 'We're going to get yer family back,' he stated clearly. 'Nothing's changing that. Not a town that wants to kidnap me, not a city that demands bizarre thingos, and definitely not any damn mutt who thinks he can bounce in and set the world on fire, ye hear me?'

Jack lurched forward and kissed him, desperation evident in every motion, and Aster met him, arms wrapping over his shoulders and cradling his head. Jack's tongue pressed past the line of Aster's lips and licked at the other tongue it found there, his hands tightening in the fur of Aster's back.

He bowled Aster over and pinned him to the bed with his weight, and ran his hands up and down Aster's middle. Clever fingers brushed past Aster's nipples and over the muscles of his upper arms, tracing the knobs of his spine and finding purchase just behind his hips, nails digging into the base of his tail.

Aster could do nothing but kiss him back, spread his paws wide on Jack's head and press him close, remembering hazily that Jack had liked the way Aster had guided him back in Plainston.

Jack shifted his weight, and where before he'd been crouched over Aster, now he nudged Aster's knees aside with his own and settled between his legs, never breaking the kiss. Aster was little fuzzy on the details of how – he hadn't been paying much attention – but he was crystal clear on the way Jack dropped his hips into the space he'd created, rocking against Aster's exposed cock.

He hadn't even noticed it slip free, and moaned into Jack's mouth at the unexpected shock to his nerves. Jack moaned right back and rocked forward harder, as if unable to keep his hips still. 'Aster, god,' Jack groaned, breaking away at last. 'You have no idea what you fucking _do_ to me. I love you so fucking much, and you just –'

He kissed Aster again, and it was an indeterminable time later when he pulled back again and continued, 'you just make it better, how do you even _do that –_?'

Aster had lost the thread of the conversation half a kiss ago, though, or at least several of his own thrusts up against Jack, and just tried to kiss him again. Jack gave him a light peck, but pulled back. 'Hold on, just – one second –'

He reached down and unlaced his pants, shoving them halfway down his thighs and exposing his own erect cock to Aster's eyes. Aster swallowed, his mouth going dry once more; it didn't look much like his, at all, but it was its own kind of lovely. It was painfully red, and thicker than Aster's, if a bit shorter. Jack fell back between Aster's legs, and he couldn't help himself as it fell beside his own – he rocked up into Jack, who looked more than a little like he didn't have any breath in his lungs.

' _Fuck_ ,' Jack whispered, meeting Aster in the same kind of movement, and his eyes fell closed as his fingers dug into Aster's hips. 'Oh, god, you – that feels so fucking good, Aster, come on, come on –'

Aster rubbed up mindlessly, the friction of Jack's skin at the line of his hip and the weighty sensation of his cock beside his own combining to overthrow any nervousness Aster might have felt in favour of an instinctual rutting.

Jack leaned forward and nudged at Aster's jaw with his nose; Aster tipped his head back, and rumbled deep in his chest when Jack set his teeth against the underside of Aster's chin. He could imagine it, the scent left behind on Jack's lips and on his tongue, and felt his cock twitch against Jack's.

Jack continued to speak, mouthing the words against Aster's throat: 'fuck, Aster, just like that' and 'god you feel amazing' and an almost constant babble of 'I love you I love you I love you' that had Aster's throat tight and his paws digging into Jack's shoulders.

'Oh, god,' Jack whispered, thrusting harder and faster now, hands tight in the sheets on either side of Aster. 'God, I hope that bruises, I hope I can feel your hands on my shoulders for _weeks_ –'

Aster jerked and came once, head tossed back and whining high in his throat. Jack bit down on the arch Aster had presented, and it was all Aster could do to choke out 'Sn – Snowbird!' as he came an impossibly fast second time, soaking the fur of his stomach.

' _Fuck_ ,' Jack whimpered, and shuddered atop Aster for a long moment before collapsing all of his weight down. It knocked the breath out of Aster, but he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

They lay like that for a few minutes, then Jack snorted. 'Sorry, Aster,' he said, and pressed a kiss to Aster's collarbone. 'Got a little carried away.'

'Ye have nothing to be sorry for,' Aster said, and chinned Jack again. 'Believe ye me, I wasn't complaining.'

'I think I might have possibly – and this is a guess, mind you,' Jack said, and dragged himself a bit higher to be able to trade true kisses, 'but I might have possibly noticed you were into it after – oh, I think it must have been thirty seconds?'

'Shut up, ye loony,' Aster said fondly, and licked the corner of Jack's mouth. 'I love ye.'

'I love you too,' Jack replied, licking Aster back. Then he yawned hard enough to crack his jaw, and Aster started laughing. 'Don't even start with me,' Jack said, but there was little heat as he settled back down. 'What can I say, old man? You wear me out.'

'Thought ye said I wasn't old,' Aster teased, settling Jack more comfortably atop himself.

'I take it back,' Jack murmured into his chest. 'You can be whatever age you wanna be if you get up and get something for us to clean up with.'

Aster laughed again, and shifted Jack off to the side. Jack whined, but beside the spring was a cleverly hidden drawer with cloths and spare blankets, so it was only a matter of minutes before they were clean.

'No, you, come here,' Jack commanded as Aster returned to the bed and tried to resume their tangle of before. 'You're warm. You're lying on me this time.'

'Yes, yer highness,' Aster said dryly, and let himself be tugged around until Jack had him where he wanted him. Aster wrapped his arms under Jack's back and let Jack pet at his ears absentmindedly, resting his cheek against Jack's chest.

'I'm so glad we're okay,' Jack said after a moment. 'That's kind of a dumb thing to be glad about, though.'

'It's not,' Aster said, and pressed his mouth to Jack's throat. 'Sounds like one of the better things to be glad about, in me opinion.'

'Yeah, well, you love me, so your opinion doesn't count,' Jack joked.

'Me opinion's one of the only ones that count,' Aster returned, and kissed Jack's skin again. 'Sleep. We'll get food in a bit.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Jack tried to say, but his fingers had already fallen still and he was asleep before the second syllable had completely left his mouth.

Aster felt the earthblood all around them, warm and beating like a great, far off heart, and followed faithfully after.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter today! My Spanish is more than a touch rusty, so please, if you speak any and find something wrong, feel free to mention it.  
> Also? I'm sorry.

**CHAPTER 18**

  
  


'Kivi said it was to the left and down the stairs, right?' Jack asked, rummaging in the pack for a spare shirt.

'Right,' Aster agreed, and took the map Jack handed him. 'Give me a minute, love, and I'll figure out where Cirrus is at.' He unfolded the map on the remade bed, bending over it and frowning. If their average speed was a few kims short of sixty per hour, and they'd travelled about...

Jack leaned over and kissed one of Aster's ears. 'What, like thirty, thirty five hours?' Aster looked over, startled. 'You were muttering. You do it when you're really focussed.' Jack kissed him again and went back to the pack. 'And our average is actually something like forty miles an hour.'

'Ye couldn't fly that fast when ye were carrying me,' Aster pointed out. 'And ye flew until dawn. Probably closer to –' he did a quick conversion in his head. 'Thirty-five, maybe?'

'I still think you're underestimating it,' Jack shrugged, and pulled out the blue sweater Tooth had made for him from the pack at last. 'But you go ahead.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Cirrus should be roughly here-ish, then,' he said at length, and tapped a point that was still plains on the map.

Jack floated over and frowned. 'We're practically in the desert now, Bunny.'

'I'm guessing geography's changed a bit since the End,' Aster said. 'Desertification can get bad if no one's taking care of it.'

'I wonder if I could...' Jack began to mutter, but the words trailed off into silence. 'Never mind,' he said. 'Come on, I'm starving.'

Aster didn't push, only folded the map back up carefully and tucked it into the pack. 'Lead the way,' he said, turning back to Jack. 'Though, I'm not looking forward to being stared at it.'

'At least you don't look completely human,' Jack said, and Aster would have taken offence if Jack hadn't sounded so uncomfortable.

'At least ye fly,' Aster returned, and took Jack's hand. 'Come on, then. Let's get the bizzo out of the way and we can come back here.'

'Okay,' Jack hummed. He laced their fingers together and trilled a moment, the Wind breezing past them and winding herself comfortably around Aster's upper arm. 'I feel better when she's around,' he said by way of explanation.

'I understand,' Aster said, and opened the door.

The hallway's lights glowed a bright, cheerful yellow, and they passed one or two mutts on their way towards the stairs. None met their eyes, but Aster could feel eyes on his fur, and tightened his hold on Jack's hand.

The steps were carved directly into the sandstone, and were worn smooth with years of use; many of the mutts flew instead walking, but a fair number were too large to fly in the halls, or simply appeared to prefer walking beneath the earth. Aster had no idea what time it was, but it seemed fairly active, with more than two dozen people passing them as they made their way down. The kitchens proved easy to find, because of the scents and the steady stream of people in and out of a wide arch. Wide, but not tall, Aster fumed inside as he ducked under the jamb.

Inside was a cavernous room, full of tables and chairs that were about half full with people, and a long line of counters, where servers were passing out food. For all the bustle, it seemed remarkably well organised, and Aster could see the sense behind keeping a communal kitchen – it allowed for better accounts of food stores and standardisation of nutrition. Of course, his thoughts on the whole affair were secondary to the realisation that he could smell bread.

Jack seemed to have come to a similar conclusion, because he began to tug on Aster's grip towards the line. 'Come on,' he said impatiently when Aster balked a bit at seeing the queue of animutts simultaneously staring and avoiding his gaze. 'I know, but it can't be worse than Plainston, can it?'

Aster nodded, and followed Jack's lead. He couldn't explain this current bout of nervousness, and chalked it up to having finally reached his total interaction quota for the year. He bore up under the stares as best he could, and accepted a bowl of some thick red stew and sweet-smelling yellow bread from the short, thickly feathered owl woman who was serving when they reached the counter.

Jack led the way to a small table a bit out of the way, and all but pushed Aster into the chair. 'I know,' he said at Aster's look. 'I don't like the stares either. Found us a good table, though.' Jack looked at the stew ravenously, and poked at it with his spoon. 'I have no idea what this is, but it smells good.'

'It's called chili,' said a clicking feminine voice, and Aster snapped his gaze to his left, having not heard anyone approach.

Before them stood a pair of mutts: one was a woman who hovered a few inches off the ground and radiated a dry heat like the desert sun, while the other – the one who had spoken – was some kind of flightless insectoid mutt, covered in a thick, shiny carapace. 'Local specialty,' she continued, and the tiny, intricate plates of her facial carapace moved to form a smile. 'May we sit? We're Todavía.'

Across from him, Jack tilted his head curiously. 'Other visitors, huh?' he said. 'We're Everfrost. S'cool if they sit, Bunny?'

Aster shrugged, both because it would be rude to refuse and because he was mite curious himself.

'Thank you,' the insectoid said, and took the seat beside Jack. The woman radiating heat sat beside Aster, across from her friend, and smiled softly when Aster gave her a look. 'And we live here, actually. I take it from the nickname, you two still think of yourselves as separate?'

'Of course we do,' Jack said, frowning. 'Only been here a few hours.'

'That's fair,' she nodded, 'but spend enough time here, and that kind of goes away. A lot of the older pairs have practically forgotten their names. We're not like that yet, Consuela and I.' She stuck out one of her hands, and her palms were bare of the carapace, the skin a dusky grey. 'I'm Caroline. Consuela's the Espautl between the two of us – she named us, anyway.'

'Frost,' Jack said, smiling charmingly and shaking Caroline's hand. 'This is my – friend?' he looked over at Aster, who shrugged.

'Good as any,' he said at last. 'Evergreen.'

'Nice to meet you both,' Caroline said, and took up her own spoon. 'The chili's really good. Did you two mean to get the vegetarian kind?'

Jack peered at the chili again. 'Looks like we lucked out, Bunny,' he said, looking back up at Aster with a grin.

'Ahh,' Caroline said, and shrugged. 'Never tried the kind without meat, but hey – I'm sure it's just fine.'

Aster took a bite, and it was excellent, if spicier than he'd thought it would be. Jack clearly hadn't expected it to be spicy at all, from the way he spluttered.

'Yeah, that's how I looked the first time,' Caroline said cheerfully. 'That's what the cornbread is for.'

Jack took a big bite of the sweet yellow bread and had a visible moment of relief. Aster chuckled, and kept eating.

'Your friend doesn't talk much, does he?' Caroline said after a moment, brandishing her spoon at Aster.

'Not really,' Jack nodded, swallowing another bite of chili. Aster was grateful Jack took it upon himself to be the chatty one; it felt much more natural. The only reason he'd done so well in Plainston was because he'd been the first one discovered. It had sort of fallen to him to be the talker. 'He talks when he's got something important to say. Man, back home, I knew people who thought he was mute until he started shouting at me for icing over his strawberry crop.'

Aster huffed out a laugh at that, grinning fondly at Jack, who grinned back.

'Oh, it's like _that_ , is it?' Caroline said, sounding distinctly amused as she turned to Jack. 'Pity. Your _friend_ is very handsome.'

Aster felt himself go red, but before anyone could say anything, there was the sound of a thump beneath the table, and Caroline flinched back.

'I'm just teasing, Consuela,' she said, sounding wounded.

Beside Aster, Consuela spoke for the first time, and her voice was as dry and raspy as sand. 'It's rude to flirt with another's _novio_ , _querida_ ,' she said, and her eyebrow quirked up. ' _Te acuerdas de lo que hice al pendejo,_ the one who thought he could sweet talk you away from me?'

Caroline made a chittering noise, like the shuffling of chitin against chitin, and reached out to lay a hand on Consuela's. 'Near scorched his feathers off,' she sighed, sounding like it was a fond memory. 'No need to worry, dear, Frost here looks like he'd do the same.'

Aster looked over, and was struck by the look on Jack's face: halfway between helplessly amused and fiercely protective, it made Aster's face feel warm again, and his ears twitched down in embarrassment. He chose to focus on his chili.

'That was back in Aztlan, wasn't it?' Caroline was saying, and Aster flopped an ear in her direction.

'You two are from Aztlan?' Jack asked, faux-casual.

'I was passing through,' Caroline explained, 'but Consuela here is born and bred.'

'Ever heard of a town called Santa Juanita?'

'That's – what, the little one at the tip of Baja California?' Caroline mused.

'Si,' Consuela replied. 'We left four years ago. It was big enough to be a town then.'

'Heard anything since?'

Jack was all but vibrating in his seat, and Aster reached across the table, settling his paw on Jack's forearm.

'Nothing from out west in a month,' Caroline shrugged. 'Last news was from Chihuahua in Aztlan, though, so I think Aztlan's doing better than the rest of us.' She turned her gaze to Aster. 'Say, where are you guys from, anyway?'

'Eastern Mountains,' Aster answered.

She made a whistling noise through her carapace. 'How long have you two been travelling?'

'A few days,' Jack shrugged. Caroline made the chittering noise again.

'Come on, seriously.'

'We're not having a lend of ye,' Aster said, as Jack's mouth was preoccupied with chili at the moment. 'He flies, I run. Pretty fast, if I do say so meself.'

'Pretty fast, he says,' Jack snorted, swallowing the last of his chili. 'He can run ten miles in five minutes when he gets going.' Jack slapped Aster's paw lightly. 'Pretty fast,' he repeated with an eye roll.

'Damn,' Caroline said, her dark eyes wide beneath her carapace. 'That's impressive.'

Aster flattened his ears. 'We've all got our talents,' he said weakly.

'Yeah, there's talents, then there's gifts,' Caroline said seriously. 'I can see in the dark. That's what I've got. Consuela can generate heat. Very powerful. But ten miles in five minutes? I'll be damned, that's fast.'

Aster shrugged, uncertain how to respond to this. Especially since he considered his speed the lesser of his two gifts.

'He's not so good with the receiving compliments thing,' Jack said peaceably. 'Anyway, it was nice to meet you two.'

_'Espera,'_ Consuela said. She gave Caroline a meaningful look, and Aster glanced at Jack. 'We have something for you.'

'We do?' Caroline asked, startled.

'We don't plan to travel any time soon, and you are going into _el desierto_ – the desert,' Consuela said. 'We have some waterskins from when we were travelling. Would you like them?'

'That would be awesome, actually,' Jack said, relaxing. 'We're down half our supplies after an – accident, so it would be a huge help.'

'Then let us help you out,' Caroline said. Now that she knew what Consuela was up to, she seemed almost eager to help. 'What do you need?'

'A second pack, some dried food, and the waterskins should be enough,' Jack said, ticking the things off his fingers. 'Can you do that?'

'We can give you one of our old packs, and the kitchens should help you out with the food,' Caroline nodded. 'Let's get started, then. It's almost eleven.'

'How do ye know?' Aster asked.

She shrugged one shiny black shoulder. 'You get used to it, living underground.' she said, and gestured to herself. 'Besides, ant animutt. I was always good with timetelling, but I don't think that counts as a talent.'

'I'm gonna disagree with you there,' Jack grinned.

She rolled her eyes. 'Let's get started.'

An hour later, they stood in Jack and Aster's room, the second pack resting beside the first and the waterskins filled from the wall spring.

'That should be it,' Jack said, and held out a hand to Caroline. 'Thank you. For everything.'

'Can't leave fellow mutts high and dry,' she said, and shook his hand. 'Even secretive easterlies like you two.' Jack opened his mouth to protest, and she held up a hand. 'It's fine, we get it, believe me. Can we know what your real names are?'

Jack flinched. 'How did you know?'

'Ant,' she said with another gesture towards herself. 'Good sense of smell. I can smell a lie at twenty paces, and? I can smell him on you,' she explained, gesturing between Aster and Jack. 'He doesn't smell like his name. He smells like flowers.'

Jack looked a little lost for words, but Aster got it; it was a bit of an animutt thing, the weird way their senses could work. He himself had an excellent sense of smell, but he'd never been able to pinpoint a lie the way she seemed to. 'Aster,' he said, and held out his paw. 'Though me first name really is Evergreen.'

'Pleasure,' Caroline said with a grin, and her chitin was warm in his grip.

Jack sighed, visibly giving up on figuring it out. 'Jack,' he said.

'Yeah, that makes more sense,' she nodded. 'You smell like a Jack. It was a pleasure to meet you, Everfrost.'

'Same to ye, Todavía,' Aster replied, and Caroline and Consuela left the room.

'You know, I think you were right,' Jack said once the door had closed. 'About how the earthblood wouldn't be strong here if everyone was bad. I think they're weird, but – good weird, I guess?'

'I'm sure they'd be bowled over by yer compliment, Snowbird,' Aster said dryly, and Jack laughed.

  
  


'Are you sure you will not stay longer?' Kivi asked. 'You are welcome in Cirrus. Take time to rest.'

They stood once again above Cirrus on the flat scrubland that promised to change to true desert. Kivi stood with them, watching as they adjusted their packs and checked one another over; the pack from Todavía was a dusky brown canvas framed bag, and looked a little large on Jack's back. Finally, they just swapped bags, and then they were ready.

Aster patted the waterskin strapped into place on the side of the pack, and said, 'We really ought to keep moving. Want to make the Rio Vida by tomorrow night.' Her yellow eyes were trained on him, and though he knew she was just as human as he, he still felt unnervingly like a rabbit pinned beneath the gaze of a hawk. 'Not much farther, now.'

'Very well. Everfrost. It was a pleasure.'

'I like the city,' Jack quipped, 'but I'm sure not going to miss that.'

Kivi chirped again, something Aster suspected might be a laugh. 'Fly fast, Evergreen,' she said to Aster. 'Fly fast, Frost.'

'Sunlight warm ye,' Aster said, and Kivi chirped again. She spread her wings wide and dove back down to the city, and Jack and Aster shared a look.

'I feel like that should have gone way worse than it did,' Jack admitted. 'Still confused, actually.'

Aster looked at him, quirking an eyebrow. 'What about?'

'What the hell was the Queen talking about?' Jack asked, and his face was twisted into a deep frown. 'Why was it so important that we go into the city? Like, thanks for the place to stay for the night, and meeting Caroline and Consuela was great, but why? No one had any answers for us.' He twirled his staff around, agitated. 'Kind of gave me more questions.'

Aster nodded slowly. 'I see what ye mean,' he said. 'Do ye think it has to do with – with the troppo dreams?'

'Probably,' Jack admitted. 'But more than that. I think it has to do with why your gift is growing. And why you could see the earthblood below the ground. And even with the way we're heading out towards Aztlan.' He leapt into the air, floating a minute. 'I don't like it. I don't like the way it's all really slowly clinking into place. I always hated stories where everything was predestined. Made it feel cheap.'

'Dunno if this one's predestined, though,' Aster mused, stretching a bit. 'Feels like something's interfering.'

'Hope they're interfering for us and not – whoever the hell is crisping towns,' Jack said, and twirled his staff again. 'Let's just get a move on, I want to be well in the desert by sundown.'

Aster nodded, but reached out, snagging Jack's wrist. 'I love ye, Jack,' he said when Jack looked over. 'No matter what's going on, that doesn't change.'

Jack's face, tense with anxiety, softened as he smiled. 'And I love you,' he said. 'If nothing else, at least some good came out of all of this. I got you.'

'Ye had me already, mate,' Aster said, smiling back. 'Was yer best friend before I was yer –' he paused. After a moment or two of consideration, during which Jack watched him curiously, Aster shrugged. 'Not really a good word for us, is there? We're kind of...'

'All over the map,' Jack agreed, incandescent in his amusement. 'Not really boyfriends –'

'Not really boys at all,' Aster said, and Jack nodded.

'Plus, I don't know where, exactly, we stand on the 'til death do you part' thing.'

'I'm all for it, when ye're ready.'

'Me too, but neither of us are ready,' Jack said. 'And fiance sounds like some kind of glass ornament.'

Aster chuckled. 'Friends and lovers together,' he said. 'Partners, then?'

Jack took a moment, then nodded. 'In crime and in other things,' he said, and dropped down a bit to kiss Aster's nose. 'Sounds good to me, partner.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'Let's get going, ye show pony.'

'Your show pony!' Jack sing-songed, but he was rising into the air, and Aster set to running. For all that the path before him was pretty unsure, Aster felt certain about the important things, and that, he reckoned, would have to carry him through.

  
  


The stars were thick as dust above them when they stopped at last, having continued for an hour past sundown, the visibility good. As they went, the plants began to take on strange shapes, in Aster's opinion; the grasses grew in squat, limited patches, and branchy shrubs were the dominant plant. Thickly green and small spherical plants with the occasional flower and a lot of spines completed the look, and they settled for the night beside one of the wide plants.

'Any idea what these are?' Jack asked, keeping well away from the spines after an unfortunate experience earlier in the day.

'Haven't got a name for them, if ye're asking,' Aster answered as he dropped the second pack beside Jack's.

'Can't you ask them?'

'Doesn't always translate well, mate,' Aster said, gathering up dried branches from the shrubs. 'I can try if ye want, but I can't guarantee it'll be what others call it.'

'That's okay,' Jack said, pulling their new firestarter out. 'I think it's better to call things what they want to be called, anyway.'

Aster took a moment to draw up a few drops of earthblood, paw braced against the dusty earth; the earthblood here was energetic and cheerful, like the earthblood in Cirrus, and responded with a great joy to his call. He directed the little bit to the tall plant, which shook itself awake and dropped some of its needles in the movement.

'Evening,' Aster said, returning to stacking the branches. 'Sorry to wake ye.'

The plant's attention turned to him slowly, and then in a sound like the spines rasping together, it replied, _hello, rooted-who-is-not-rooted. You have come very far from your own earth. What brings you to the drylands?_

'We're travelling, me partner and I,' Aster said casually, enjoying the feel of the words in his mouth. 'To the coast.'

_From the mountains to the sea,_ it rustled. _But not my mountains, and not your sea. The roots tell me of your journey, little one. Why do you wake me?_

'To tell ye the truth,' Aster said, striking the flint far from the plant, in a spot of dirt clear from brush, 'I was curious. We haven't got anything like ye where I come from.'

_I am a waterkeeper,_ the plant said with a shiver of pride running up its tall trunk. _When the desert is dry, I am the only lake the unrooted have. I carry the earth and the sky together in my centre._ It murmured a sound that sounded what Aster imagined wind on bare cliff-faces must sound like.

'A – cactus?' Aster tried, sounding the word out and trying to translate it from the strange noise.

_The unrooted have called me that in times past_ , the cactus agreed.

'So that's yer kind.'

_We were different in ages past, but I am sunwarm in what I am now._ The cactus shook itself again, releasing more spines.

'A cactus, huh?' Jack said, then frowned. 'Actually, I think I know that word. I must have read it.' He smiled, and began to fill the collapsible pot with snow. 'Well, nice to meet you. I'm Jack.'

_He speaks to me like he is rooted,_ the cactus said, sounding as surprised as any plant could, _but he is – sky-free. Storms. Water and rain._

Aster wasn't sure quite what the cactus meant by that last bit, but nodded. 'Yeah, he does that,' he said. 'Confused the plains grass, too.'

_It takes little to confuse grass,_ the cactus answered knowledgeably, and Aster was laughing as he translated the words to Jack.

The night passed peaceful, if surprising chilly, and they left the next morning with high spirits. The cactus had been helpful as a plant could be, and though there were no settlements within reach of its rooted system, it had told them some people had passed within the last two moons, heading east.

They travelled southwest until sometime around noon, where they paused for a water break. The heat was impressive, and Aster spent most of the break grumbling.

'I'd ice you over,' Jack teased, 'but there isn't a lot of moisture in this air. I'm sure I can make it work, though.'

'Don't ye dare, Snowbird,' Aster warned, backing away. 'Do ye have any idea how much ice in me fur itches?'

Jack still managed to come up with enough snow to peg him in the back of the head with an impressive snowball, much to Aster's annoyance.

That evening, they had travelled far enough that even if it wasn't within sight yet, Aster could smell the first traces of salt in the air. They were nearing the coast, a gulf where Normerica curved into Aztlan.

'It's huge, Aster,' Jack rambled happily as they ate. 'I didn't know water could be so big. I know, I sound ridiculous,' he laughed at the look on Aster's face, 'but you? You've seen it –'

'When I was a kit –'

'– shut up, that totally counts, so you don't get to judge.'

Jack leaned over and kissed Aster's cheek, grinning from ear to ear. 'Just wait until you see it again,' he said with all the self assurance he'd ever had. 'Your jaw's gonna hit the ground, Bun-bun, I promise.'

Aster rolled his eyes, but kissed Jack back; when they curled up for sleep, and his eyes were closed, it felt for a moment as though they'd never left Riverfield, as though all the strangeness of the world was distant.

It didn't remain that way.

Aster would never remember the details of the dream, what words were truly said. All he remembered was his own face, tight with fear and ears flat to his head, and a great shouting cry that woke him with a sharp jerk.

What drove the dream from his mind, what froze him in place, was not something physical. It was an absence.

Jack, his pack, and his staff were gone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the day! And where, oh where, has our Jack boy gone?

**CHAPTER 19**

  
  


'Jack!' Aster called, tense and twitching his ears in all directions. Nothing answered, and his side was neither warm nor cold; Jack had been gone for a while, then. Maybe hours.

Aster scrambled to his feet in the darkness. The sun wouldn't be up for another hour, he judged, and closed his eyes, listening, smelling the air. The scent of Jack, of his own scent mark, was faint in the air, and Aster's heart rammed against his ribcage.

He had to find Jack.

He rolled up the bed roll and stuffed it into his pack, cursing when he realised his boomerangs were in the original pack, which was gone. He was hardly defenceless, but he felt bare without them nearby, the weight having grown familiar once more over the past days – and had it only been days, not months, not years since they'd left? He felt disoriented, stumbling slightly as he pulled his pack on.

Laying his ears flat, he focussed on scent, where it lay strongest. Jack was a flier, and the wind would scatter it quickly, but it could give him a direction still. Aster turned south, where the scent began to mix with the far off salt of the sea.

What could have lured Jack away – much less without having woken Aster? He had taken his pack and his staff, but Aster's pack was untouched, which ruled out raiders or some other intruder. Jack must have gone of his own free will, Aster reckoned.

Beneath the thought was an anger. How could Jack have left him behind? After everything – after _Plainston_ , for god's sake, he decided to go gallivanting off on his own? He knew Jack could be reckless, but this was pushing it.

Beneath even that, pervasive and paralysing, was a terror Aster was doing his hardest to ignore, because if he let it creep to the surface, he would lose the ability to do anything but scream. Jack was _gone_. Jack was gone, thousands of clicks from home, with a mad mutt burning the continent to the ground, and Aster had no idea where he was.

Aster set his shoulders back, and began to run south, trying to keep from sprinting full out; it was no good, exhausting himself before he could even find Jack.

A few minutes passed, the ground blurring beneath his paws, before he recognised the chiming in his ear.

'Wind!' he said mid stride, and she chimed again, urgent as alarm bells. 'Where's Jack?'

Her discordant jangling sounded frenzied, and Aster couldn't tell if it was that she didn't know, or if she feared what she did know. 'Can ye bring me to him, little miss?'

She chimed emphatically, and took off, a few degrees more west than Aster's current path. He'd never noticed before, but the Wind carried a faint scent of her own, of ice and snow drifts and playful flurries in the heart of winter. He only noticed now because the scent was changed, and carried with it the distant promise of a blizzard's howling. It was the scent as much as the sensation of her beside him that he followed now, the cold bizarrely comforting amidst the early morning heat.

They raced on for what had to be hours. The sun rose, and glared red in a hazy sky; Aster noticed it now only in a distant part of his mind, and only with a sardonic _that'd be right_ in the back of his thoughts. They came upon the ocean, vastly green and blue, and left it again. Aster thought that if he'd not been so focussed, Jack would have been right, he would have stopped and stared. As it was, he gave it only the most passing of glances as they veered less south and more west.

They passed one spot of charred earth, large enough to swallow Riverfield whole, and then another. A third. A fourth, a fifth, and Aster lost count, lost track of his speed, of his surroundings other than the ground in front of him. Without being entirely aware of it, each brief contact of his paws to the earth was calling to the earthblood, his fear radiating out from his body down and down and down. The earthblood followed in his wake, and soon he could hear the plants everywhere he went. The cacti and the scrub brush cried out alike as he passed; they seemed to sense his anxiety, and the cause of it, and responded with their own fear. He caught snatches of whispers as he raced by, the Wind howling to keep ahead of him. _Fire_ , the whispers hummed.

_Dark fire –_

_Winter –_

_Storm and cloud –_

_Seedling unrooted –_

Aster ran on, feeling sick.

He knew he'd long passed into Aztlan, the ground turning sandy and dusty beneath him, and couldn't imagine how Jack could have come so far so quickly. But the sun reached its highest point, and began to fall farther west, and still the Wind screeched on, driving herself towards Jack, and Aster could only follow and pray that he wasn't coming up on a corpse.

An hour and a half later, the first sign of hope bloomed in his chest – the scent of Jack picked up again, faint but growing stronger as they kept moving, and the Wind was screaming as she tore further and further on.

Aster followed her, muscles straining but unaware of the fatigue, until he spotted a distant flash of blue, far off yet, and nearly tripped in his relief. The relief was shattered when he realised the blue wasn't alone – there was a tiny figure beside the blue, and a black mass, growing as Aster watched.

He gave up on conserving energy and sprinted full out, outstripping the Wind in his haste, and drew up on the figures.

Jack stood protectively in front of the the little figure behind him, unfamiliar long brown hair swung down over their face and crouched behind him. He held his staff out, aimed at the black mass, and Aster's ears pricked forward as he heard Jack shouting.

'You're not going to touch her again!' Jack fired a massive splinter of ice at the mass, and there was a high pitched screech from the little girl as the mass merely parted around the shot.

'Jack!' the little girl said, clutching at Jack's sweater as Aster neared.

The black mass of – smoke, perhaps, Aster couldn't tell – stank of fear and a bitter, acrid burning. Something in the centre laughed, a high, cruel sound that echoed off of unseen walls, and said, 'Or what, _Storm-maker_?' It laughed again. 'What are _you_ going to do to _me_?'

Some of the smoke dropped to the ground, flickering hungrily – _it's fire_ , Aster thought in horror, _dark fire –_ and snaked towards Jack and the little girl.

'Don't ye dare!' Aster screamed, diving forward and past Jack, paws coming into contact with the earth at the same time as the black flames leapt for him.

The earthblood roared up his arms, anchoring him to the earth, and splashed up against the black flames. The bright light Aster had seen in Cirrus poured out of a crack in the earth that opened between his paws and grew wider, fountaining up and spilling towards the black mass. The fire hissed and spat, but retreated from the light, the green shot through the blinding white swelling and shrinking like the passing of seasons.

'Aster?' Jack asked from behind him, voice weak as the black flames retreated and returned to smoke.

'Later,' Aster said, the strain of the earthblood's movement making his teeth ache, 'Ye and I are having a long talk about _waking someone up_ when ye go to leave.'

The smoke-like mass parted, and a mutt stepped forward.

He was tall, as tall as Aster, if not taller, with sickly grey skin and eyes that gleamed a mad gold in the sunlight. He wore some kind of thick robe that looked like it was made from the smoke that followed him, and it reflected almost no light, a dull black against the dusty earth. 'So, you finally show your face,' the man simpered, and extended a hand to his thick smoke, which curled lovingly around his bony fingers. 'So kind of you. I didn't think to catch two of you at once.'

Aster released the earthblood, or tried to; it remained stubbornly pouring up, circling around the three of them protectively. 'Not sure ye've caught anything, mate,' he said harshly, standing between the bizarre mutt and Jack. 'From where I'm standing, looks like ye've made a bit of a blue coming after us at all.'

'Your way of speech is as quaint as I've been told,' the man said, inclining his head in a haughty manner. 'Hello at last, Earth-waker.'

'Do ye have a name that doesn't sound like ye took it out of a book?' Aster demanded.

'What concern is that of yours?'

'I'd like to know what name to put on yer gravestone.'

The man laughed, sounding genuinely delighted, and it made Aster's fur prickle. 'You think you could kill me on your own?' he asked, eyes gleaming. 'When I've burnt my way through far stronger mutts than you? Through entire _cities_?' He leaned forward, and the smoke – or shadow – leaned with him. 'Who burnt El Pueblo de los Angeles? Who burnt Denver? Toreno? Miracle City?' A sly look made his face insufferably smug. 'Chough's Landing?'

Aster snarled, paws clenching into fists at his side. 'Ye're fucked in the head,' he spat out. 'I'm going to _bury_ ye.'

'You can do nothing!'

The fire leapt forward again, but the earthblood splashed up once more, and it retreated with pained sounding hisses.

'Looks like ye can't do anything either,' Aster said, eyeing the earthblood with a mix of relief and trepidation; he did _not_ want to see what that fire could do to flesh. 'Got a lot of tickets on yerself, I see.'

The man scoffed, but there was a curl of frustration to his mouth now. 'A fluke,' he said. 'I've already seen how to overcome it.'

'Clearly.'

'Bunny,' Jack said, stepping up to stand beside him. 'While it's hilarious to watch this asshole talk shit, can we get this over with? Emma's – we need to get away.'

Aster began to respond, but the man flung his arms up and the smoke leapt up, hovering in the air and blotting out the sun. 'Yes, let's get this over with!' the man said, and the fire _dove_.

Jack shoved Aster aside, staff coming up on reflex; Aster reached out, horror tensing every muscle in his body, because he'd seen this, he'd seen Jack try to fire on the smoke and seen it do nothing –

Ice the insane blue of the sky blossomed in the air, curving back and over Jack like a shield, and the earthblood spilled up and melted into the edges, surrounding them in a blinding sphere of green and blue that had Aster staggering back in shock. A small hand gripped his fur, and without thinking, he turned and gathered the little girl up. She was small, smaller than her age really should have made her, and light; her grip was deceptively strong though, and she clung to Aster's shoulders like he was the only solid thing in her world.

'What!?' the man shouted, and sounded – afraid, almost. Jack slashed the staff to the side, breaking the barrier, and the ice shattered into snow before falling to the earth. Around them, the earthblood returned to its circling.

Jack didn't bother with an answer, twisting his staff around and aiming the crook at the mutt. This time, the splinter of ice that burst out was glowing, and it shot through the meat of the man's shoulder with a sound like glass cracking.

The man screamed, the sound piercing as a needle, and Aster flattened his ears as the girl in his arms buried her face in his fur. The man staggered back and clutched at his shoulder, the smoke screeching in sympathy and diving back to his side.

'How did you – none have ever –' the man panted out, staring at his own wound; then he snapped his head up, and his eyes were crazed, his mouth stretched in a terrifying grin. 'I will enjoy breaking you both,' he said, voice calm in a way that sounded like it belonged to a much saner man. 'Riverfield will burn, and everyone you love will join it.' The shadowsmoke began to thicken around him, crawling up his limbs. 'You will regret this, Earth-waker, Storm-maker,' he murmured. 'You will regret defying Pitch Black.'

The shadowsmoke swallowed him, and then pooled on the ground, before dissipating.

They stood in dumbstruck silence, then Jack jerked and whirled around. 'Emma! Are you okay?!'

He flew over, nearly crushing the small girl between himself and Aster, and the girl made a small sobbing noise. Aster's heart broke at the tiny sound, and he ran a paw down her back in an attempt at comfort.

'I'm okay,' she whispered at last, and her voice sounded like Jack's, Aster realised – higher, softer, but a similar cadence that would have told him this was Jack's sister even if Jack hadn't been hovering over her.

She pulled back from Aster's chest, and her face was young; she was small, but he reckoned that must be from Jack's dam's family, given that Jack wasn't a big bloke, either. She was thin, and though her features looked much like Jack's, the brown eyes were haunted. 'I'm sorry for, uh, crying on you, mister,' she said politely, voice a little steadier.

'Don't ye worry about that none,' Aster said gently, and went to set her on the ground. She took a moment to let go, seemingly uncertain of her balance, but Jack had already wrapped his arms around her and was resting his head atop hers. She was clutching back, and her shoulders began to shake again.

'You saved us, Aster,' Jack said after a moment, straightening. His sister stayed firmly wrapped around him, and he kept petting at her hair, as if to remind himself she was real. 'God. I – I'm so sorry, you must have been –'

'Later, Snowbird,' Aster said, because Jack's guilt was visible in his face, and Aster could be angry later, when he wasn't so relieved. 'Right now? Ye're okay, I'm okay, and Emma's okay. We should get moving before it gets too much later.'

He didn't ask about Jack's dam, because he suspected he already knew what had happened there. Jack didn't protest, only knelt, to be of an eye level with Emma. 'Can you walk, Em?'

'Yeah,' she nodded. 'He didn't hurt me. Just – kept me. I'm fine.'

'I can carry ye a ways,' Aster offered, and shrugged when she turned to look at him. 'Ye're not too much heavier than me pack, after all. Jack can carry that for a bit.'

Jack nodded encouragingly when she looked at him, and she looked back to Aster with a little more confidence. 'Thank you. I'm Emma Frost.'

'E. Aster Bunnymund, at yer service,' Aster said, sketching a little bow, and she giggled a bit. She had to be twelve or thirteen, he thought, but he remembered distantly reading something about how trauma could affect children; some could seem to grow up in a day, and some regressed to a younger age. She seemed to have done the latter, and he didn't want to think about the sorts of things she must have seen.

'Thank you, Mr. Bunnymund,' she said.

'Call me Aster,' he said, 'or Bunny. I didn't come all the way out here to be 'mister'ed, little miss.'

For a moment, he feared he sounded scolding, but she just smiled. 'Okay.'

Aster handed off his pack to Jack, who whistled for the Wind. She burst into being with an angry chatter of mixed arpeggios and harsh chords, and Jack winced.

'Don't be so mad at him,' Emma said, holding out a hand. 'He was coming for me.'

The Wind chimed sweetly at Emma, and sent her hair flying. Aster crouched down, and Emma clambered onto his back, her grip strong in his fur as Jack coaxed the Wind to help him with the weight of the packs.

'Got a good grip?' he asked, tilting an ear back.

'I'm good. It doesn't hurt you?'

'Course not,' Aster said, and Jack stepped up. Crouched down as he was, Jack was taller than him, and it was a bit confusing, the way Aster had to look up.

'Thank you, Aster,' Jack said, and leaned down, kissing him gently.

Emma giggled a little from behind him, and Aster felt himself go red as Jack pulled away. 'East until sundown, I think,' he said. 'Tell me if you need a break. You had to have run yourself ragged getting here.'

'I'll be fine a while yet,' Aster assured, standing again. 'I'll sleep like a rock tonight, though.'

'I'll bet,' Jack said, and took to the air. 'Seriously, though, I'll be mad if you don't tell me.'

Aster bit back the immediate urge to say something like _what, the way ye didn't tell me?_ , but something of the thought must have crossed his face, because Jack winced.

'Be careful,' Jack said awkwardly, and took off into the air.

Aster followed at a run that felt slow after the way he'd sprinted for most of the day, and hoped this was something they could overcome, because if a fight tore them apart before Pitch could try, he wasn't sure he'd manage.

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter today! And they survived Pitch - can they survive what comes after?

**CHAPTER 20**

  
  


Emma was a good passenger, quiet and still, and they'd been running for about three hours when she asked, 'Are you my brother's husband?'

Aster almost tripped over himself, and was glad the Wind had gone with Jack, because he could almost hear Jack's laughter now. 'Er,' he said, leaping over a small but deep crack in the earth, wary of the darkness below, 'no, not yet. Wait, I mean –'

Emma laughed, and she sounded so much like Jack that it sort of broke Aster's heart. 'I'm just teasing, Mr. – I mean, Bunny.' She was silent for a moment. 'You do love him, though?'

'Hard not to,' Aster muttered under his breath, then said louder, 'I do. He's a pain in me ar– er, he can be a right nuisance, but he's Jack.' Aster smiled a bit helplessly, even though she couldn't see it. 'Makes a couple blues now and then, but so do I. Reckon I'd rather be around to lend a hand than have to worry from a distance.'

'Did you know he's been in love with you forever?' she said matter-of-factly, almost making him trip again. 'Almost since his first letter to us – to me.' Her grip tightened painfully for a second, and Aster was reminded that she'd apparently inherited North's gift for strength; she was young enough that her control probably wasn't the absolute best, especially in the face of grief. 'So, I mean, thank you for saving us. But if you hurt him,' and now she sounded more like North than she probably knew, 'I'll beat you into a pulp.'

'Ye got it, miss,' Aster said, both because he could tell she meant it, and because she deserved an honest answer. 'Have to tell ye, this is has to be the third shovel speech I've gotten in a week.'

'Are you threatening Bunny already, Em?' Jack's voice drifted back on the Wind, and Aster chuckled at how annoyed he sounded. 'You couldn't wait until tonight?'

'You'd interfere,' she answered, the family resemblance in her snarking tone striking. 'You didn't have to read all of your lovelorn letters –'

'Em, oh my god, stop talking right now,' Jack interrrupted hastily, and Aster laughed again as the two siblings began to squabble like they'd never stopped.

It was a temporary thing, and Aster knew it. When they stopped, Jack would have to explain what had happened, and he had no idea how Emma would react once the shock wore off. He'd bet every piece of fur he had that there would probably be tears, nightmares, anger and screaming. He remembered losing his own parents, and couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose everything like this.

Right now, though, they were okay, and Aster let the relief in his breast buoy him up, lighten the tiredness that was already beginning to creep into his vision, and carry on. What would come would come. He would have to deal with it when it arrived.

But not before.

  
  


The fire was crackling, banishing the darkness with a warm circle of light, and Emma was curled up on the bedroll, deeply asleep. Aster didn't blame her; who knew how long she had been awake, how long she had been running or in Pitch's hands. She deserved a bit of sleep.

Jack had made some food, and now sat beside Aster, pressed up against his side with his left hand on Aster's knee and his right on Emma's head. Aster kept his own paw around Jack's waist, warding off the cold of the desert night.

'What happened?' he asked quietly, and Jack turned his face into Aster's shoulder, resting his temple there and breathing for a moment. Aster waited.

'I woke up,' Jack began. 'I thought I'd heard something. Then – I heard it again. My name. But it was – it was Em's voice.' He began to shake just the tiniest bit, and Aster ran his thumb over Jack's hip. 'She was calling for me and she sounded so scared, Aster. I had to go. I grabbed the pack and my crook – I didn't have time to dig for the medical supplies, and what if she was hurt?' He snorted a bit. 'It was dumb. I wasn't thinking. I should have – I mean, I'd had no idea if it was actually her, you know? And I just went after her.'

Aster felt some of the latent anger melt away; Jack was right, he should have thought, but he'd heard his sister. It made sense he'd panicked.

'Next time ye hear something weird in the night,' Aster tried to say lightly, 'wake me up, yeah?'

Jack nodded. 'I'm so sorry,' he murmured into Aster's fur. 'God, I was stupid.'

'No, ye were worried,' Aster said, and lifted his paw from Jack's waist to his shoulder, hugging him to his side. 'Ye made a mistake. That's all.'

'That mistake almost got me killed, and Emma with me,' Jack said bitterly. 'Anyway, I chased after her voice. It always sounded like it was nearby, but no matter how far I went, I couldn't find her. Then I noticed all the stars were gone.'

Jack began to pet at Emma's hair. 'I couldn't see the ground, or the sky; I could just hear her. I followed it, and then it was – really bright. The sun was up, and I had no idea where I was. It was still desert, but in the distance, there was this big scorched spot, almost a mile across, at the bottom of a big strip of land. And just past it was the sea.'

Aster's paw clenched. 'Santa Juanita?'

'I don't know how long it's been gone,' Jack said, voice bleak. 'A couple of days, I think. I just stared at it for a while, because I'd – I mean, I knew there was a chance, but I'd hoped, I thought we could make it, I thought we could find them –'

He swallowed noisily. 'Uh, anyway, after a little while, I realised someone was shouting at me from the ground. And there was Emma. She was waving up at me frantically, and I flew down to her. She was yelling at me to leave, though. I didn't realise until I was too close.

'Then, all of the shadows pulled together, and it looked like the darkness I'd been in while I was following her voice. It began to smoke, and then it was like a big cloud. Emma screamed, so I pulled her away, and then – Pitch, I guess, stepped out. He started to talk at me, like I was some kind of prize, and when I told him he was bugfuck crazy, he began to threaten Emma. He said he'd been keeping her for days once he'd realised who she was related to – whatever that means – and would be happy to take her back if I didn't go with him.'

Aster held on tightly, fury rising in him at the thought.

'I tried to get him, but the smoke just moved my shot out of the way, or like, moved him out the way. I don't know. Then you just appeared out of nowhere and –' Jack looked up at Aster. 'What was that light?'

'That was the earthblood, Snowbird,' Aster said, startled. 'Ye could see it?'

'Hard to see anything else, man,' Jack confirmed. 'Bright white, green leaves inside?'

'That's it.'

'Yeah, I don't know why I could see it either,' Jack shrugged. 'But I don't really care. It kept us safe.'

'What did ye do with the ice?' Aster asked, turning and nosing at Jack's hair. 'It was glowing.'

'I don't know,' Jack confessed, leaning into the touch. 'It wasn't doing it when I tried before. Then, when the fire came – I don't know, I acted on instinct. It felt like the right thing to do to keep us safe.'

'Same with the earthblood.'

Jack ran his hand over Aster's knee, a mirror to the way he was stroking Emma's head. 'Get some sleep, Cottontail,' he said after a quiet moment. 'I'll keep watch.'

'I'm not tired,' Aster protested, lying through his teeth.

Jack elbowed him gently. 'No lying, please,' he said. 'I'll be here when you wake up, okay? I've got the two most important people in the world here already.'

There was grief there in his voice, and Aster turned bodily to face him. 'Jack,' he said. 'If ye don't want to talk about it, ye don't have to. But –' he swallowed. 'Where is yer dam?'

Jack turned an empty gaze on Aster. 'I don't know,' he said, voice cracking. 'She wasn't with Emma. I think that's answer enough.'

Aster wrapped his arms around Jack, who leaned into the embrace like he needed it to hold himself up. 'I'm sorry, love,' he said, and Jack nodded.

'Me, too,' he said. 'Get some sleep, Aster. I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a while.'

Aster nodded, and let Jack arrange him the way he wanted, so he was curled up with his head on Jack's lap. Jack's hands stroked at his ears, the fingers almost reverent, and Aster fell off to sleep, praying Jack could keep his promise and be there when Aster opened his eyes again.

  
  


_'Is he alright?!'_

_Aster flinched at the shout, the fear and anger warring on his own features across the table. Other Aster looked a mess; his waistcoat buttons were all one hole off, and his fur looked like he'd been running his paws through it incessantly since the last time Aster had sat in this room._

_'Answer me, damn ye!' Other Aster roared. 'Is Jack alright?!'_

_'He's fine,' Aster assured, finding his tongue. 'He's fine, we're all fine.'_

_'How could ye bodge this up so badly?!' Other Aster continued to shout, though Aster didn't miss the flicker of soul-deep relief on his face. 'I told ye to do one thing – one thing! Keep an eye on Frost, don't let him out of yer sight, and ye let him run straight to Pitch!'_

_'I didn't_ let _him do anything,' Aster argued. 'He heard his sister, and went after her while I was sleeping. He didn't wake me up. That's not me fault! I went after him after –' he scowled as at last the memory of the dream from before arose in his head. 'After the_ last _time ye screamed at me. I saved him, okay? ASTER!' he shouted over Other Aster's next argument, and had a moment of disorientation at shouting his own name. 'Jack is fine. He's alive, he's not hurt.'_

_'He's okay?' Other Aster said, paws tense where they clenched the back of his usual seat._

_'He's alive,' Aster confirmed. 'Okay, I'm not so sure about. His dam's dead.'_

_'God,' Other Aster breathed, face horrified. 'No wonder our Frost's in a sulk.'_

_'Why do ye do that?' Aster asked, frowning. 'Call him Frost. He has a first name, ye know.'_

_'I know,' Other Aster admitted. 'It's easier this way, believe ye me.'_

_'No, it's not,' Aster insisted. 'He needs people around him if he's –' he shook his head. 'Sorry. I guess I don't actually know the bloke.'_

_Other Aster shuffled a bit. 'Ye might know him better than me at this point,' he said slowly. 'Ye really think he'd – ye know, want someone around?'_

_'Me Jack always does better with people around, even if he's not yabbering yer ear off,' Aster said. 'Not too many people, mind. But someone to sit quietly with him? He might never ask for it, but he needs it.'_

_Other Aster nodded, and then tried to school his face into something less worried. 'Thank ye, for keeping yers safe,' he said. 'I think our time is –'_

_'I think ye should answer some of me questions,' Aster interrupted._

_'I can't,' Other Aster protested._

_'Ye're already interfering,' Aster pointed out, and was rewarded with a flinch. 'Ye need to tell me what ye can.'_

_Other Aster hung his head, ears drooping. 'What do ye want to know?' he asked at last, and Aster knew he had to make this count, because he could already see the corners of his vision fading out._

_'Why are ye interfering? Who are ye?'_

_'I'm ye,' Other Aster said, not looking up. 'And we're interfering because if ye fail here, we all fail. All of us, every story, every single E. Aster Bunnymund, every Jack Frost, every Ombric and North, Toothiana and Sanderson, Katherine and Nightlight. If ye fail, there's nothing left.'_

_'I don't –'_

_'Hurry home,' Other Aster interrupted. 'Ye don't have much time, Aster. And –' suddenly there was a vulnerable look on Other Aster's face. 'Take care of him, yeah? I might not be able to for mine, but maybe ye can take care of yers.'_

_Aster tried to keep the dream steady, to resist the fading, but it was no use. At least the dreams he fell into weren't full of fire and death, he thought dryly, and lost himself to the sleeping._

  
  


Aster awoke to hands on his ears. He sat up, and Jack smiled at him, a gentle, fragile thing.

'Morning,' he said. 'Emma's still asleep. She might be up soon, now that the sun's up.'

'She have any nightmares?' Aster asked, jaw cracking in a wide yawn.

'Not that I could tell,' Jack replied, 'but you did for a little while after you fell asleep.'

'Not nightmares,' Aster denied, and looked at Jack heavily. 'Strange dreams.'

Jack's eyes widened, and he leaned forward. 'You mean –'

'Yeah.'

'What did he say?'

'Yelled at me for not keeping ye in me sights,' Aster admitted. Jack scowled.

'That wasn't your fault.'

'Don't worry, I told him that,' Aster assured, and Jack snorted a little. 'Apparently his Jack is – er.'

Jack's face flickered into grief before settling onto a calm, if distantly sorrowful, expression. 'I'll bet,' he said. 'I have no idea what his story is, but – yeah, I don't think it would matter which me he was, he'd be upset.'

'Told him to go after him,' Aster said. 'Ye always do better with someone around.'

'I'm not him, though.'

'I think ye could have been, Snowbird. I think we all could have been.'

'Yeah,' Jack replied, but his face looked doubtful. 'I dunno. Maybe.'

'Did ye get any sleep?' Aster asked, but Jack shook his head.

'Couldn't,' he said simply. 'Probably a good thing. I'd rather keep watch, anyway. The dark's got me nervous now.'

'I don't blame ye,' Aster said, wrapping Jack up in a tight hug. Jack held on, fingers digging into the fur of Aster's back. 'Not too fond of it meself, anymore.'

There was a snuffling sound beside them, and Jack let go of Aster, turning to his sister. 'Em?'

'Jack?' she whispered, and opened her eyes. 'I'm not dre– I mean. Good morning?'

'It's okay, you're safe,' Jack said, voice understanding as he began to untangle Emma's hair from the bird's nest it had become over the night. 'We've got you.'

She looked around Jack, and her eyes widened at the sight of Aster. 'So I wasn't dreaming,' she said with a tiny voice. 'You really – we're away? We got away?'

'We did,' Jack confirmed, and began to gently pick apart a particularly nasty knot. 'We're going to get moving soon. I bet you anything North's can't wait to see you.'

'I don't really remember him,' Emma admitted, bending her head so Jack could get at the back of her hair. 'But – I'd like to see him.' She looked up again and smiled shyly at Aster. 'Good morning, Bunny.'

'Good morning, little miss,' Aster said, smiling encouragingly. 'Hungry for some tucker yet, or do ye want to wait?'

'I could eat, I think.'

'Good. Let's get ye some brekkie and then we'll be off.'

Aster began to dig through his pack, and had to stifle laughter when he heard her ask Jack in a whisper, 'Does he always talk like that?'

'It grows on you,' Jack answered, not bothering to mask his own laugh. 'Hold on, Em, I'll braid your hair so it won't get like this again. What did you do, roll around in a bush?'

Half an hour later found them moving again, Emma's thin arms around Aster's neck as they began to move.

Emma and Jack chattered back and forth over the Wind, half-speaking and half-singing when the Wind chimed in, and Aster let the sound soothe much of his anxiety from the dream. No matter what the two of them spoke about, the way they'd laugh was thin, stretched over an unspoken grief and a lingering fear. Aster didn't speak at all; it felt intrusive to even consider. Jack and Emma needed to reconnect, talk about little things until they could talk about the big ones, and Aster had no place in the proceedings except as support.

It was a hard thing to come to terms with, and so Aster did so silently, rather than stumbling over his words and tripping over subjects he had no business saying anything about.

The hours passed slowly, the sun hot overhead, and Aster was grateful for the Wind more than once as she blew back and forth between Jack and Emma; but, the time did indeed pass, and night fell, cool and getting colder. They stopped once they were within sight of the ocean, and Emma barely stayed awake long enough to swallow some of the soup they made before she was out like a light.

'Should she be sleeping this much?' Jack asked, looking over at her.

'Travelling's hard work, love,' Aster said, catching Jack's hand in his paw. 'Ye've just gotten used to it. Imagine she's just tired out from having to hold on all day.'

'Maybe,' Jack said, but squeezed Aster's fingers. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' Aster answered, startled. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

'You didn't talk all day,' Jack explained, turning his concerned blue gaze from Emma to Aster. 'I know you're not the chattiest guy, but...' he shrugged. 'I was worried.'

'So am I,' Aster murmured, and shifted nearer. 'I didn't want to – ye know. Interrupt. Ye two need to talk more than I do.'

Jack began to float a little, and made a place for himself in Aster's arms before settling neatly in his lap. 'Thanks, Aster,' he said, and kissed Aster's cheek. 'But you don't have to do that.'

'Not sure I'd know what to say if I did try to talk,' Aster replied. 'I don't want to say something that – well, will remind ye.'

Jack nodded, face serious and bereaved in equal measure. 'It's hard,' he admitted. 'I – I mean, Ma's dead. Emma hasn't said, but there wasn't anyone else around. I think she must have been out near the ocean or something when Pitch came. I think she's the only one left.' He pressed his forehead against Aster's, eyes closed, and Aster's ears drooped forward over his head, the better to hear his quiet words. 'And it's awful, but I'm glad it was her.'

Jack's hands tightened in Aster's fur. 'I don't think Ma could have handled losing Dad and Emma,' he whispered. 'I'm not sure that if it had been Ma out there and not Em, there would have been much of a person left to save. And I'm mad at myself, that I didn't get there sooner.'

'Ye couldn't have pushed yerself any harder than ye did,' Aster soothed, but Jack was shaking his head.

'I could have, though. I treated it like it was some – some quest, god, and that they would of course be safe and sound at the end of it.' He snorted, and it was new, an ugly, hateful sound, alien to Aster's ears. 'I wanted so badly to believe it that I didn't even think it would end otherwise.'

'Ye couldn't have known, Jack,' Aster stated as firmly as he could. 'Ye had no idea. Hell, I was the one who insisted that we wait a week. It's as much my fault as it is yers, which is to say –' he ran his nose down Jack's, nuzzling as best he could. 'Not at all. We couldn't see the future, Jack. It's not our fault. The only person who should be blamed is Pitch.'

'I know,' Jack said. 'I know, but it's like my brain and my heart aren't talking to each other, you know? I _know_ what you're saying is right, but I'm just not getting it.'

Aster lifted his head and pressed Jack's down, tucking him beneath his chin and trying to engulf him completely in his embrace. Jack seemed to understand the impulse, because he balled himself up, curling in on himself and holding on tightly.

'And Pitch knew about Riverfield,' Jack said into the fur of Aster's chest, his breath warm. 'We need to get home.'

'We don't know that he could get there before us, Snowbird.'

'I think he might be able to go faster than even you, though. How else has he been burning towns all over the place? It's the darkness – the shadows I was caught in. I think I travelled the same way he did, which is how I got to Emma so fast. And if he can use those at will, and on other people, I have no idea what he can do.'

'We're doing the best we can, Jack.'

'Maybe – maybe you should run ahead,' Jack said, fingers loosening as he sat back, still on Aster's lap, but putting a palpable distance between them. 'You could get there faster than we could, and we can catch up –'

'I'm not leaving ye behind, either of ye,' Aster interrupted. 'It's not happening. We're not splitting up. I won't do it.'

'But the earthblood kept the fire stuff away,' Jack argued, beginning to scowl. 'You could keep them all safe.'

'I'm not leaving ye, and that's final,' Aster said flatly.

'Don't be selfish, Bunny,' Jack snapped. 'There's way more at stake. If you have to, take Emma and run as fast as you can. You could make it in a few days, rather than the week it took us –'

'Selfish?' Aster repeated, hurt. 'I'm not being selfish, Jack. I can't leave ye behind.'

'I can take care of myself!'

'Clearly,' Aster growled, and dropped his voice when Emma stirred a few feet away. 'Ye only ran off after a voice in the night without waking me –'

'I thought we talked about this,' Jack returned, dropping his voice as well. 'I told you why – I fucked up, okay? I said I was sorry!'

'I'm still mad about it! I know ye're sorry, okay, but ye ran off and I had no idea where ye were –'

'I did the right thing!'

'The right thing would have been to wake me!'

'And if I'd lost Emma, too?!'

Aster paused, and looked at Jack. His jaw was gritted tight, but beneath the frustration, Aster could see the way his frame trembled, could hear the sob caged in his throat.

'I had to go, okay? And I know I fucked up,' Jack said at last, dropping his head to stare at his hands. 'I know. I'm so sorry, Aster.'

'Jack, the last time I woke up without ye,' Aster said, needing Jack to understand how much this was eating at him, 'I was chained up in a little shed, and they were telling me ye were dead.'

Jack flinched.

'I know,' Aster said, and slowly lifted his paw to rest on Jack's shoulder. Jack neither pulled away from the touch, nor leaned into it; instead, he sat passively beneath the weight, unmoving. 'I can't say I understand perfectly – Emma's not me sister, and we're not hardly brothers. But whatever ye're imagining would have happened if ye lost Emma?' Aster's grip tightened. 'I can't imagine me reaction to yer death would have been too far off.

'I've known ye for eight years, Jack. I can't say I was in love with ye for all of them – ye were a child, and I don't think I began to feel differently towards ye until sometime after yer eighteenth birthday, maybe a bit before. But ye've been the best friend I could have ever asked for, and just about the only person I've considered family since me parents disappeared. If ye were gone?' Aster swallowed. 'I've lost me dam and me sire, Jack. Don't make me lose ye, too.'

Jack was silent for a long moment. Then, he shuddered, his shoulders shaking under Aster's paw, and the most awful sound Aster had ever heard rolled out of his throat – a deep, lung-wracking sob. He didn't so much lean forward as fall, and Aster caught him, wrapping his arms around his shivering frame and holding on with every bit of strength he had.

Jack wept into Aster's chest, tears hot and wet in Aster's fur, and Aster couldn't help the way his throat tightened sympathetically, the way his own eyes prickled. They sat like that for what felt like forever, the night sky heavy above them, until at last Jack sat back.

'Sorry,' he murmured, and mopped ineffectually at Aster's fur with his shirt. 'I got you all gross.'

'Snowbird,' Aster said, and Jack looked up into his eyes, his own redrimmed and pupils wide. 'Don't be sorry for grieving.'

'So you're still mad, huh,' Jack said weakly, clearly trying to change the subject, and Aster let him.

'I'm going to be mad for a while,' Aster admitted. 'A little less every day. But I can be mad, and still love ye.'

Jack smiled, and wiped at his own face with his sleeve. 'It's weird,' he muttered, leaning in against Aster's chest again. 'Everything's so fucked, and I just looked at you and thought, 'I'm so fucking lucky to have this asshole'.'

'I'll try to see the compliment I'm sure was in there, love,' Aster replied, and Jack laughed. 'Ye should sleep.'

'I'm scared to,' Jack confessed, settling his head on Aster's shoulder and saying the words into his neck. 'I'm scared that when I sleep, I'll see – me, I guess. I don't want to have to tell myself Ma is dead.'

'He might be able to help ye,' Aster said quietly, chinning Jack's temple. 'Who knows ye better than yerself?'

'You, sometimes,' Jack answered with a hushed snort, and Aster laughed back under his breath. 'I'll try to sleep. I know it isn't the most comfortable, sitting like this, but you can move after I'm asleep, maybe?'

'I'm happy where ye are, Snowbird,' Aster reassured him. 'All I'll do is lie down in a bit. Ye haven't slept in over a day. Get some rest.'

'Okay,' Jack agreed, sleep already heavy in his voice, and before long his breathing was whistling through Aster's fur, warm and steady.

Aster held on, running his paws over Jack's back, and quietly thanked whatever was out there that they'd made it through.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh thank god. Look, talking through your feelings really does help!
> 
> _Take notes, Aster_.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter today! Please see the end notes for the second chapter for some important information regarding the next two updates. :)

**CHAPTER 21**

  
  


The next days passed in a blur of running in the hot sun and talking quietly in the cool nights. Aster wasn't sure when, exactly, spring had changed into summer; he suspected it would still be very springlike when they returned to Riverfield, but this far south, the heat was already oppressive. At least it was a dry heat here in the desert, and not as humid as summers could get in Aster's experience, but it was enough to slow his pace a bit.

On the third day after their encounter with Pitch, in the morning before the sun was too hot, they came back upon Cirrus.

They were found first by a young man with wings the green colour of the plains grasses, just beginning to wave on the horizon, who landed with a bit of a stumble in front of Aster a few minutes after Jack had warned him of the company. Jack stood beside Aster, hand on Aster's bracer, and Emma stood nervously behind them.

'Everfrost,' the man said, voice high but assured. 'We didn't think we'd see you again – Kivi said you were headed for the coast.'

'Turns out the place we've left behind is the place we're most needed,' Aster replied, and gave the man a look. 'I reckon we're not going to be allowed back in, what with the three of us.'

'I'm afraid not,' the young man said, sounding truly apologetic. 'The rules of Cirrus are for both our own safety and for our guests'.'

Jack sighed. 'Can you do me a favour, and get Kivi and Todavía?'

'Kivi is in an audience with Queen Erinyes, and has been for the past few days, but I can try. Please wait here, Everfrost.' The man spread his green wings wide and leapt into the air with a downward slash, gaining altitude quickly before gliding down into the great gash in the earth that was Cirrus.

'Who was that?' Emma asked nervously.

'Him specifically? No idea,' Jack said, turning to her. 'Must be a guard for Cirrus, though.'

'The bird city you were telling me about, right? And Kivi was the guard then.'

'You got it, Em,' Jack said, smiling.

'Who's Todavía? And why are they named 'yet'?'

'Oh, is that what that means?' Jack asked, then shrugged. 'It's Caroline and Consuela, the two women who helped us.'

'So it's like how you two are Everfrost,' Emma said. She nodded, and when Aster glanced over, she was grinning. 'I bet you came up with that one.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'I just think Bunny would have said something better,' Emma answered innocently, and Aster chuckled at the offended look on Jack's face. Emma frowned again, though, and Aster turned to face her more fully. 'You asked for Kivi and Todavía, right?' Her accent on the Espautl was much better than either Jack or Aster's.

'Think we just covered that, Em,' Jack said with rolled eyes.

'Well, then,' Emma said, pointing behind them. 'Who's the other person with the guard?'

Aster followed her pointing finger and had to squint against the sun to get a better look, but Emma was right; soaring out of Cirrus and towards them were five figures. He could pick out Todavía easily – Caroline's black chitin was shining in the sun, and she clung to the only other wingless mutt in the air, one black arm slung over Consuela's shoulder and standing on her foot. Kivi's gold brown plumage was working furiously, a hawk's wings better suited for gliding and diving than for continuous flapping, and beside her was the guard's green wings, much smoother in its movement.

But the four flanked a much larger figure, a great grey bird animutt with wings like no bird Aster had seen in his life, who flew with a sedate grace that was a mask for how powerful their wings could be.

'Queen Erinyes?' Jack said, turning to Aster with a confused look.

Aster shrugged back, as bewildered as Jack looked.

'Everfrost, you nutters!' Caroline called down as they neared. 'What are you doing back here?!'

'Passing through on our way back east,' Jack hollered back. 'What's with the name-calling, you floozy?'

'Floozy?' Caroline sputtered as Consuela set them down in a wave of hot air that did nothing to soothe the sun's heat on Aster's fur. 'Who are you calling floozy, airhead?'

'Break it up,' Aster said reprovingly at the same time as Consuela hissed something that sounded like 'Cállate, querida, hay una niña!'

Emma giggled as Jack shot Aster an annoyed look. 'What?' he asked.

'Ye know very well what,' Aster said. 'Behave for five minutes, would ye?'

'She started it,' Jack said, but snorted at Aster's glare. 'Fine, fine.'

'Pardon me,' Emma said shyly to Consuela as Kivi touched down, followed by the young man. Consuela paused in her hushed scolding of Caroline, who just looked decidedly amused. 'Pero hablo espautl, ¿fue me pregunto que 'chinga' decir?'

Consuela turned a dusky red, and Caroline began to laugh as the Queen landed at last. 'Oh, sorry, my Queen,' she gasped out between chuckles. 'Only, god, the look on our face –'

'Causing trouble as usual, Todavía?' Queen Erinyes asked, but her face was smiling. The young guard stepped around the queen, keeping watch in one direction while Kivi kept watch in the other. 'You need not apologise.' She turned her grey gaze on Aster and Jack. 'Everfrost. I suspected our last visit would not be such. What brings you back east?'

Aster glanced at Jack. 'Why don't ye introduce Emma properly to Todavía,' he said. 'I'll – update the Queen.'

Jack searched his eyes for a moment, and Aster nodded at the question on his face. Jack nodded back, and began to chivvy Emma and Todavía off to the side. Aster pulled in a deep breath; at least this way Emma wouldn't have to listen to the story of Pitch again.

'Earth-waker?' the Queen asked, frowning now.

'We met the mutt what's been burning all the cities,' Aster said in an undertone. 'Goes by Pitch Black.'

The Queen looked at him appraisingly. 'And you survived?'

'The earthblood warded him off,' Aster said. 'We were going to ask Kivi to warn ye, but since ye came on yer own, it makes it easier. I know ye lot are fliers,' he said, and braced himself. 'But it's not safe too far away from the earthblood. Ye should stay underground as much as possible.'

Queen Erinyes nodded, to his relief. 'The ground hums have always kept us safe here,' she said. 'It has long been a hub for them. They've scrambled the hearing of many, and most don't even notice our city. It's part of why we stopped you the first time – you came much too close. Kivi had to know why.'

Kivi nodded, off to Aster's left. 'I was fortunate. You will have kept us all safe. Cirrus owes you much.'

'I'm not so sure about all that,' Aster said, uncomfortable. 'But if by coming by we did ye some good, can't exactly apologise for it.'

'Storm-maker,' Queen Erinyes called, and Jack floated over, casting little glances back towards Emma, who was chattering away in Espautl at Consuela, who looked pleased to have someone to speak to. 'Where do you intend to go now, Everfrost?' she asked, having both of them before her again.

'Home,' Jack said immediately. 'To the Eastern Mountains. You told her about –?'

'Yeah, I gave her the drum.'

'Okay,' Jack said with a nod. 'Before he left, Pitch said Riverfield will burn. We have to get back there.'

'Riverfield?' the Queen said, blinking her eyes wide. 'There was a traveller recently who said much the same. He said he needed to return there – someone was waiting for him.'

Jack and Aster traded a startled look. 'What did he look like?' Jack asked.

'White hair, much like yours,' the Queen described. 'He glowed from the inside out, casting light wherever he went.'

'Nightlight!' Jack and Aster exclaimed at the same time.

'That was his name, yes,' the Queen confirmed, snapping her feathered fingers in remembrance. 'You know him?'

'Really well, actually,' Jack said with a nod. 'How long ago did he pass through?'

'Two days at most,' she said. 'If you hurry, you may catch him.'

'Thank ye,' Aster said. In the mad bizzo of their journey to Aztlan, Aster had forgotten completely that Katherine had told them Nightlight had gone west. That he was okay and travelling still was a great relief; it would have devastated Katherine had something happened to him. 'We'll try our best.'

'Very well. Thank you for your news, ill though it may be. We'll prepare ourselves,' the Queen said. 'Fly fast, Everfrost.'

'Sunlight warm ye,' Aster replied. Jack nodded his head, clearly lost in thought, and turned back to Emma and Todavía, bustling over and collecting up his sister. Queen Erinyes took off with the original guard, who looked deeply apprehensive about being in the open air after hearing what Aster and Jack had to say, leaving Aster beside Kivi.

'You are unharmed. Yes?' Kivi asked, her fixed yellow eyes intent on Aster. He nodded, holding up both paws in a placating gesture.

'Not a scratch on us,' he assured. 'Can't say the same for how we feel, but I reckon yer lot aren't going to be too rapt about all this, either.'

'It will be difficult,' Kivi conceded, beak clacking over the words. 'We are a city of fliers. Have been since there were fliers to make a city. But we are strong. We live beneath the ground. Beside the ground hums. There's a reason for that.' She tossed her head and shuffled her wings, adjusting the lay of the feathers along her side. 'They kept you safe. I trust they will do the same for us.'

Beneath him, Aster could feel the earthblood racing around once he tuned into it: something about this spot made it bright and cheerful, more aware and nearer the surface than just about anywhere he could remember save his own farm. 'Can I do something?' he asked abruptly, only half listening for an answer.

'For the ground hums?' Kivi said, sounding surprised. 'Earth-waker. We would be honoured.'

'Hey, Bunny,' Jack called over. 'You ready?'

'Give me a moment, love,' Aster called back absently. He knelt, and spread his paws wide over the dusty earth.

Like he was stroking an eager dog, the earthblood answered with a joyous leap and spilled up his arms almost before he could tell it what he was asking for. It figured out what he wanted right quick, though, and spun itself faster, thickening the veins throughout the stone of Cirrus until they were like rivers; it splashed up and down the city until it had made a wide net, certain to catch any sort of shadowsmoke that came down into the city proper. It wound itself in between Aster's fingers, and kissed them in farewell as it sank more firmly into the rock.

He sat back, nodding. 'That should do,' he said, and stood. 'Can't imagine much can get through that now, but ye –' he looked over at Kivi, and frowned. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted towards the earth, and she was humming under her breath despite her beak. 'Er, are ye alright?' he asked cautiously.

'You made it sing,' she said, letting the hum fade. 'The ground hums are – singing.' She opened her eyes, and the yellow gaze felt like a physical thing, heavy and wondrous in a way that made Aster shuffle. 'It was an honour to have met you. Earth-waker.'

Aster wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he settled for an awkward hum. It was in tune with whatever Kivi was hearing, because she hummed back the same note.

'Stop showing off, you,' Jack snorted and floated over, jostling Aster's shoulder. 'We should get going now.'

'As ye say,' Aster huffed, rolling his eyes. 'All set?'

'Oh, yeah,' Jack said, with a self-satisfied grin that Aster was immediately suspicious of. 'Come on, we got to move if we want to catch Nightlight before Riverfield.' He took up their packs again, and sent a wave over to Caroline and Consuela. 'See you, Todavía!'

'Travel safe!' Caroline replied. Consuela was whispering something to Emma, who was nodding emphatically and replied in a quick babble of Espautl. Then she walked over to Aster, looking thoughtful.

'Ready, miss?' Aster asked, crouching, and Emma clambered on, nodding. Once he was certain Emma's grip was sure, he turned back to Kivi. 'Sunlight warm ye, Kivi,' he said. 'Stay safe.'

'You too. Evergreen. Frost.'

'Actually,' Aster said, smiling, 'I tend to go by Aster.'

'Nice to meet you,' Jack said with a grin as he took to the air, staff in his grip. 'I'm Jack.'

Kivi chirped at him and directed her warm gaze to Aster. 'Aster. Jack. Fly fast.'

'Will do,' Jack replied, and with a last glance, he set off. Aster followed not a second behind, and though Cirrus faded into the distance, the earthblood remained energetic and bright under his feet.

  
  


They entered the plains, and through a mutual, unspoken agreement, kept due east; they could make their way north again when they were reasonably certain they had passed Plainston by. The heat grew more humid as they travelled, and the nights grew warmer, the cold desert darkness a thing of the past. Jack took to sleeping with his hand in Aster's and about a foot between them, the heat too much for him to manage. Aster wasn't complaining, although he did miss the comfort of Jack's body beside his own.

Though they travelled at Jack's top speed, they didn't see any sign of Nightlight; he was a flier too, though, and one as fast as Jack, with considerably more experience travelling. In addition, from the stories Katherine had told Aster on visits before, he preferred to travel at night. Apparently, he glowed even in his sleep, and he didn't like the idea of providing a stationary target for any raiders or animals to take advantage of.

They passed dozens of the black spots on the earth, and even if Jack hadn't been quietly redirecting him away from them, Aster wouldn't have gone near; it was like the earth had _died_ , great gaping holes in the earthblood's current, jarring in their blackness. Aster was just grateful that as they travelled further east, they gradually began to decrease in number. They tilted their course north halfway the day after Cirrus, and by evening they could see where the forests of the east began to thicken.

It was still hot, if cooler than the plains, but at last Aster was on ground that felt familiar. The flowing of the earthblood beneath him was as comforting as blankets and tea, so unlike the lazy plains or the frenetic desert. It would pulse in greeting as he passed overhead, as if delighted to have him so near to where he belonged.

'We should be home late tomorrow,' Jack said when they settled down for the night. He was braiding Emma's hair again, the speed of their travel having left it tangled and half undone. 'How does your hair get like this? You should cut it short.'

Emma laughed under her breath. 'Ma says – said the same thing,' she said wistfully, and Aster had to work hard not to tense as he set up the campfire. 'I wouldn't let her. I liked the way the Wind would play with it.'

There was a long, quiet moment, and then Jack sighed. 'If she couldn't convince you, there's no way I'll be able to,' he said, trying to sound light, and he mostly succeeded.

'Nope,' Emma replied, matching his tone. 'Who taught you to braid, anyway?'

'There's other kids in Riverfield, you know,' Jack said. 'I have a friend –'

'Glad to hear it!'

'Em, you shut it.'

Aster chuckled at them, and suspected that if he turned around, Jack would be sticking out his tongue.

'Anyway,' Jack continued with a second, long-suffering sigh, 'she helps her mom at the hospital, by taking care of the kids who come with their parents or have to stay overnight. A couple of times she had her hands full, and asked me to help her out. Cue three hours of braiding lessons that she didn't actually have to suffer through, because she has feathers, not hair.'

'Tell me about them,' Emma commanded, and Jack sighed a third time, sounding terribly put upon.

'Well, the ones you'll probably see the most are North and Kath – do you remember Great-Aunt Kath?'

'Don't get her to call her that,' Aster admonished, handing over the collapsible pot for water. 'Katherine'll have yer hide.'

'Why?' Emma asked, turning to Aster.

'She's only forty-four,' Aster answered while Jack rolled his eyes and filled the pot with snow. 'She's not old.'

'Old enough,' Jack sing-songed, handing the pot back for melting.

'Say that to her face,' Aster shot back, and shook his head. 'Don't ye listen to him, Emma, he'll tell ye all the bad things and none of the good ones.'

'Then you tell me,' she said, looking half a step from laughing at the look on Jack's face.

'Well, he is right, ye'll see Katherine and Nick the most,' Aster admitted, and ignored Jack's triumphant 'Ha!' at the admission. He took a seat next to Emma and let Jack putter around the pot of slowly melting snow, digging out the dried soup mixes. 'But ye'll probably see a fair amount of Tooth and Sandy. Tooth's the town doctor,' he explained at her curious look. 'Yeah, that's her real name – Toothiana, matter of fact. Her daughters are Indira, Mandira, Parvati, Lakshmi, Kali – those are the triplets, mind ye – Arti, and...' he paused, having been ticking names off his fingers.

'Oh my god,' Jack said, sounding delighted. 'You can't remember Baby Tooth's real name, can you?'

'Ye belt up,' Aster said, flicking his fingers at Jack. 'There's a lot of them, in me defence.'

'Yeah, but you got the _triplets_ right,' Jack replied, grinning like a shot fox. _'No one_ gets the triplets right. And you can't even remember poor, dear, darling...' he trailed off intentionally, and waggled his eyebrows at Aster. 'Baby Tooth.'

'Ye gonna tell me then, or let me make a dipstick of meself?'

'You don't need any help with that,' Jack said, and then yelped as a stick hit him. 'Ow! Emma, what the hell?'

'Come on, help him out,' Emma said, picking up a pebble this time.

'Oh, I see how it is,' Jack said, flinging an arm dramatically over his eyes. 'My beloved sister and my partner, teaming up to pick on me.'

'See, he called ye beloved,' Aster said in a faux-undertone, 'but me? Just his partner. Looks like the honeymoon's over, eh?'

Emma grinned up at him and patted his forearm consolingly. 'It's okay, Bunny,' she said over Jack's squawked protests. 'He's been stuck on you forever. He's not going anywhere.'

The stick she had thrown returned and hit her shoulder lightly. 'She's telling lies,' Jack declared, returning to his soup.

'That's still not Baby Tooth's real name,' Emma sang at him, tossing the pebble in one hand.

'Her name is Padma, if you have to know,' Jack said over his shoulder, visibly gathering up his dignity, and Aster snapped his fingers.

'Padma, damn it,' he said. 'I always forget it.' He turned back to Emma. 'Anyway, those are Tooth's girls. Baby Tooth should be right around yer age, if I'm guessing right.'

'I turned fourteen in April,' she said.

'Right on the ticket, then. I expect ye'll settle in nicely.'

'I hope so,' Emma said quietly, just for Aster to hear, as Jack was cursing while digging through one of the packs.

'Ye will,' Aster reassured, patting her back. 'North is looking forward to seeing ye, I'd bet me last zack on it.'

'But it's just me,' she whispered. 'What if he's mad that Ma is – gone?'

'He might be mad,' Aster said. 'But never at ye. He's going to be so happy ye're okay he might cry.'

'He'd cry?' Emma repeated, looking disbelieving. Aster chuckled.

'Remind me to tell ye about the time he thought he'd lost his favourite pipe,' he said dryly, and she giggled a bit.

Not long after, supper was finished, and soon after that, Emma was asleep. A cool breeze was beginning to blow in from the west, and so Jack tucked himself right along Aster's side and tugged Aster's arm around him.

'It feels like we're close to being done,' Jack hummed as the fire began to die down. 'Like, tomorrow we'll be home. But I don't think that it's all over, yet.'

'As far as I'm concerned,' Aster said, pulling Jack even closer, 'we need to get Emma to safety. Once she's cared for, we can worry about the rest of it.' He leaned over and chinned the top of Jack's head. 'At least, that's most of it. I don't think Pitch Black is just going to fade into the woodwork.'

'Probably not,' Jack agreed. 'Plus, I owe him one.' Jack's hand tightened in its place on Aster's thigh, tugging on the fur there. 'I plan to pay him back.'

'I'll be right behind ye,' Aster said, and chuckled a bit when Jack shot him a surprised look. 'What, ye thought I'd try to stop ye? If ye didn't have first picks in me opinion, I'd be happy to job him right into the bloody ground.'

He ducked his head and kissed Jack gently. 'We'll get him, Snowbird,' he murmured against Jack's mouth. 'Don't ye worry about that. He's gonna get what's coming for him, if it's the last thing I do.'

'Good,' Jack said back, lips moving like a promise against Aster's. 'But seriously, stop with the angry act, because my sister is right over there and the mental picture of you kicking ass is kind of really affecting me.'

Aster went a little red, and Jack kissed him again. 'Come on, let's get some sleep,' he said, pulling back. 'It's a little cooler tonight, thank god. I think I was starting to miss you, or something.'

'I was less than a foot away,' Aster protested, but he knew what Jack meant. Jack didn't bother with an answer, only entangling their limbs and setting his chin on Aster's shoulder, burying his face in Aster's neck. He was asleep in a few minutes, and Aster spent a long moment stroking his back, memorising the weight of him.

He'd meant what he'd said, after all.

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter today - and at last we close a plot thread that's been hanging since, like, chapter 11.

**CHAPTER 22**

  
  


Morning dawned red as a poppy flower, and it set Aster's teeth on edge from the second he awoke. Jack stirred a few minutes later, and sat up, yawning. He squinted up at the sky, and to Aster's surprise, muttered, 'Red in the morning, fliers take warning.'

'Funny, me dam always said 'farmers',' Aster said, and Jack floated off him with a little laugh.

'Regional differences – I'm pretty sure we've had that conversation, though,' he said lightly. 'Still, we both knew Cinderella, though you'd never heard the Clockwork Soldier.'

'No, I had,' Aster corrected, standing. 'I just knew it as the Prince Made of Tin.'

'Different stories entirely,' Jack argued, looking amused. 'Can you get Emma up?'

'On it,' Aster agreed, and knelt beside the sleeping girl, shaking her right shoulder with a gentle paw. 'Up and at 'em, little miss,' he murmured when she blinked her eyes open. 'Almost home.'

'¿Qué hora es?' she replied sleepily, sitting up.

'Er,' Aster said, and shrugged. She must have spoken Espautl pretty regularly, living in Aztlan; she was probably fluent by now, but as impressive as that was, he was shit out of luck when it came to understanding her. 'Sorry, Emma. Don't speak a word of Espautl, meself.'

'Sorry,' she said in English, and yawned. 'What time is it?'

He looked up at the red sky, slowly lightening to a pretty rose colour, and hedged, 'Sometime around five-thirty, I'd reckon.'

'And we'll be in Riverfield tonight?'

'By this afternoon if all stays apples,' he confirmed. 'Come on, up, little miss.'

'Why do you call me that?' she asked, letting Aster pull her to her feet. Aster started at the question, and felt his nose go a little red.

'Sorry, it's what I've been calling the Wind for yonks now,' he said. 'Sort of transferred over to ye.'

'You can just call me Em,' she said. 'I think the Wind's annoyed that I stole her nickname.'

Emma crooked her fingers, and the Wind sprang to life, the way he'd only felt Jack do before. She jangled at him in displeasure, and he laughed, holding out a paw.

'Me apologies, little miss,' he said. 'I'll be more careful in the future.'

Another jangle, followed by a reproving chime.

'She talks to you a lot,' Emma said, holding out her own hand and catching the Wind in her fingers. 'She's pretty happy you talk back, now.'

'Do ye have a Wind of your own?' he asked, curious.

'Oh, no,' Emma said, smiling at him. 'Never found one that wanted to hang around me the way Jack's does. And I'd probably name her something a little better than Wind.'

'I can hear you,' Jack said from off to their left, and Emma laughed.

'I can talk to all the winds, though,' she continued. 'I think Jack could too, when he was little, but over time he just stopped talking to the rest of them, because he had her.' Emma shrugged. 'They're close, and I like her a lot, but I don't think I'd like to give up the rest of them for just one. It's more fun to talk to Winds from all over the world, I think.'

'Sounds fair to me,' Aster said with a smile, and turned to Jack. 'Are ye ready to go, Snowbird?'

'Thank god our supplies are getting low,' Jack remarked, leaping into the air with both packs strapped to him. 'This would be really heavy, otherwise.'

Aster chuckled at the awkward load Jack was bearing, and held up his paws when Jack glared at him. 'I've got yer sister, mate,' he said.

'At least she holds on,' Jack grumped, but it sounded half-hearted at best. 'Hold on, before you get on,' he said to Emma, and fussed with her hair a moment more. She let him do it, rolling her eyes at Aster over his shoulder, and Aster watched with a fond grin. 'There, that should do it. Get over here, Bun-bun.'

'What do ye want, ye great big –' Aster began, walking over, but was stopped by Jack turning around and planting a kiss on his mouth, wrapping his arms around Aster's neck. Aster was too surprised to really return the kiss until after Jack had pulled away to Emma's teasing 'Gross, Jack!'

'One for the road,' Jack said with a devilish grin, and Aster walloped him on the shoulder fondly.

'Come on, Em,' he said, crouching down for Emma. 'Let's get this idiot home.'

'Okay, Bunny,' she replied, and held on tight as they got moving.

The miles melted away quickly beneath his paws, and though the earthblood was familiar below, so too was the fear that haunted the trees and grasses of the forest; as they swung further north, the thicker it grew, until Emma tugged gently on Aster's left ear and murmured, 'What's wrong with the trees?'

'Don't rightly know meself,' he replied. 'Why, what do ye see?'

'The air is all wrong,' she said into his ear. 'It's talking, and it's sort of – nervous, I guess. And all the trees look like they're bent funny.'

'I see what ye mean,' Aster replied, frowning now. 'To be honest with ye, the trees feel scared right now.' He paused. 'I think I can guess why.'

Her grip tightened painfully for a second before she loosed it again. 'Pitch Black?'

'I'll bet,' Aster answered. 'The trees told me before that –' he racked his brains. 'Dark fire that burns and has been made to burn freely, if I'm recalling proper. They meant fear,' he explained to Emma's silence. 'I think that's the root of what the fire, shadowsmoke, is.'

'Shadowsmoke is a good word for it,' she replied softly. 'Fear, huh?'

'Aye, fear,' Aster said. 'I think it's fear made real – made physical. I'dve thought it would be different for each person, though.'

'I think everyone's scared of fire,' Emma said, sounding steadier than he'd thought she would. They crossed a ruined bridge from the Before, the middle crumbled and collapsed to the river below; he leapt the gap and kept going as she continued, 'even mutts who have fire powers. It's like the ocean. It's good and bad.'

'How so?' Aster asked encouragingly; he suspected it might be good for Emma to talk this out, to puzzle out her own feelings on the subject. Maybe if she understood it, the fear wouldn't grip her as badly, and maybe that would prove to be Pitch's undoing. If people weren't frightened of him, maybe...

'Like, the ocean is good, yeah?' Emma was saying. 'It gives us fish, and a way to travel, and nice breezes with interesting stories. But it storms too, and drowns people. It's good and bad. The same thing with fire. It cooks our food and lights our houses, but it can burn us.' Her little fingers dug more firmly into his fur. 'I think it's important to be scared a little bit. But not all the way.'

'Sounds like good sense to me, Em,' Aster said, and she laughed a little bit as the Wind began to tinkle in their ears. 'Shoot through,' he told her, and waited.

'Uh, Bunny? We've got a problem,' Jack said, sounding tense, and Aster slowed to a stop.

'What kind of problem,' he returned, standing fully, hooking his paws under Emma's knees.

'Remember the lake?'

'The one shaped like Tooth's nose?'

'That one.'

'Did the scout spot ye again?' Aster asked urgently.

'No, no,' Jack answered, his voice tight. 'But there's some kind of commotion going on down there. Smoke.'

Aster felt his heart stop. 'It's not –'

'No, thank god, just regular smoke,' Jack interrupted, and Aster's heart started beating again. 'But a lot of it. And, uh, I'm pretty sure – pretty sure I see a glow down there.'

'Nightlight,' Aster breathed, horrified. 'Ye think he got caught?'

'If he did, he seems to be putting up a hell of a fight,' Jack replied. 'We need to get down there.'

'I'll go,' Aster said, frowning as he thought quickly. 'Ye come down here, stay with Emma. I'll go help him out.'

'You have no idea how many mutts there are, Aster,' Jack protested. 'You need back up, just in case.'

'I'm faster than ye,' Aster argued back. 'I can get there sooner. Get Emma somewhere safe, leave her with the packs, then come.'

'No thank you,' Emma said, sounding nervous. 'Don't just leave me somewhere.'

'You'll be fine, Emma,' Jack said soothingly.

'I'm staying with Bunny,' she stated with all the finality she probably had in her little body. 'I can fight, Jack –'

'No, you can't –'

'We need to make up our minds, or it'll be too late,' Aster cut in. 'Jack, do ye trust me?'

'Of course I do,' Jack replied immediately, no hesitation whatsoever.

'Then trust I'll keep her safe.'

There was a moment of silence, then Jack's voice sighed. 'If she gets so much as a scratch on her, Aster, you're cut off for a month,' he said. 'Let's move.'

The trust was humbling, and Aster nodded, even though Jack couldn't see it. 'Hold on, Em,' he said. 'We're going to go a lot faster for a minute, here.'

'How much faster?' she asked, grip tightening in trepidation.

'Not as fast as I could be,' he answered with a bit of a chuckle, 'But it'll be a bit of an eye-opener. Duck yer head.'

Before she could answer, he took off, twice as fast as before and gaining speed. Emma shrieked a bit and buried her face in the back of his neck, her grip almost painful. The trees hummed in his passing, not awake enough to speak but aware enough to note his presence, and as he went the trees unbent, standing a little taller in defiance of the fear. He could hear the sounds of fighting now – gunshots going wild and blades crashing and the thump of metal on flesh. The sound was encouraging, because it meant Nightlight was still fighting.

Through the line of trees that ringed a clearing beside the lake, he could see a raider's caravan burning merrily, the line of covered wagons and metal carcasses scavenged from the Before like a burning dragon sprawled dead on the ground. Thirty or more mutts of all kinds, dressed in clothing that looked like it had been repaired as often as it had been worn, were all hammering at a single foe who was managing to repel them, if not without difficulty.

Nightlight was tall and dangerously thin, always had been; his white hair gleamed in the fire light, and his eyes glowed steadily as he warded off attack after attack with his long spear, keeping distance between himself and the attackers.

Aster set Emma down, and took her shoulders in his paws. 'Keep back,' he told her. 'Fight only if one of them finds ye. Stay safe, Em.'

'Okay,' she replied, looking nervous, and Aster pulled her into a hug she clearly hadn't been expecting, judging from the way she went still.

'She'll be apples, don't ye worry,' he said, and then she gasped.

'Wait, I –' she reached behind her, under a shirt she'd borrowed from Jack, and messed with some kind of buckle he couldn't see. 'Jack told me to hold onto them for you, in case you needed them,' she said, and handed him his sire's boomerangs. 'Be careful, please?'

'Ye've got it,' he said, taken aback. He gripped them in his paws and grinned. 'Hope I still remember how to use them,' he quipped, and turned, throwing with all his might.

The boomerang flew in a gentle arc, and to his delight, knocked into the skull of the mutt he'd been aiming at. The man grunted and fell to the side, dropping his long blade to the ground, and the weapon bounced back up into the air, soaring over to Aster once more. Nightlight took advantage of the distraction and swept another two to the side, and laughed with a spectral, far off quality.

'Thank ye, Em,' he said, catching it neatly. 'Keep safe.'

He leapt past the trees into the clearing, bringing all of his considerable speed to bear, and tossed again.

'Aster,' Nightlight said shortly when Aster landed beside him, the boomerang knocking another blade to the ground before returning, leaving its master clutching her hand and swearing.

'Glad to see ye're alive,' Aster returned, catching the boomerang and using the other's curve as a club, knocking into a man's temple who was trying to sneak around the side.

'Likewise,' Nightlight said, small grin and bright laughter so familiar on his face that Aster had to grin back.

The smiles didn't last; there really were too many mutts, and Aster had his paws full almost immediately. Of the main group, four veered off to deal with him; the first was stupid enough to get within reach of Aster's arms, but the other three seemed content to ignore their fallen comrade's unconscious body, dancing back and forth out of the reach of the boomerangs and ducking them when they were thrown. Aster wasn't the best at close combat; he preferred to hit hard and from a distance, rather than from up close. These were all experienced fighters though, and clearly had worked as a team. None of them were faster than him – hard to be, at that – but one would distract him as another darted in or away, landing blunt blows along his arms.

He growled, frustrated, and lashed out with a kick, knocking one of them aside at last. Above them was a shriek, shrill and loud as a flock of birds screaming, and Aster spared a glance at the noise, ears flattening against the volume.

The sparrow animutt from before hit the ground hard, their wings splayed funnily, and didn't move; most striking was the foot long spear of ice that pierced their midsection. Aster suspected it might be pinning the mutt to the ground, and swallowed hard.

'Sorry I'm late,' Jack said, dropping out of the sky to land beside Aster, brandishing his staff's crook at the stunned animutts. 'A little bird told me this was where the party was at?'

Aster groaned at the pun, and Nightlight laughed again. 'Jack,' he said simply. 'Good to see you.'

'Touching reunion later,' Jack replied, smiling too, 'kicking ass now.' He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar grey roll of felt. 'Aster, cover me.'

'Ye got it, Snowbird,' Aster replied, and went back to attacking the two mutts who were still standing still, staring at their fallen scout. The one on the left, her hair a bright blue, unnaturally dyed and standing out from her head, lashed out at Aster with a kick. He blocked it with on of his boomerangs, hooking the curve around her ankle, and throwing her to the side. In the movement, though, he lost track of her partner.

'Bunny, watch out!'

He spun around, and reached out for Emma, who'd darted between him and the other's mutt's descending club. 'No, don't –'

She caught the club in one hand, ripping it from the mutt's grip, and like it was a bat, knocked him clear across the clearing, where he hit the side of one of the burning caravans and slumped over, unmoving.

'Er.'

She hefted the club. 'Man, these guys are weak,' she said conversationally, and behind him, Jack laughed as he fired off another spear of ice.

'I'm going to just let ye do yer thing,' Aster said weakly, paw held up, and looked around for his next opponent. Several stepped forward, looking eager for the job, and Aster sighed. 'How'd ye get into this mess?' he called to Nightlight, punching one of the mutts clear across her face, breaking her nose beneath his knuckles.

'Glowing,' Nightlight called back, sounding annoyed by it, and Aster huffed out a laugh under his breath. Soaring around him, chiming, was the Wind, and she dove at one of the mutts, her movements glinting strangely in the light. Aster realised she was carrying his dam's needles when the mutt began to shriek, and laughed again.

'So that's what ye were doing, Frostbite!' he said.

'Figured she could help out,' Jack said, hooking a mutt's neck with his crook and knocking her into her neighbour, sending the two women tumbling to the ground.

'What the fuck is you guys' problems!' one of the mutts shouted, throwing his hands in the air. 'Is this some kind of game to you fucks?!'

Aster threw his left boomerang at him, striking him solidly on the head as he walloped another to his right.

'Sort of,' Jack said cheerfully to the unconscious body, soaring over it and lashing out at one of the few remaining mutts.

Soon, the remaining number was a much more manageable ten or so, and between the four of them (five, counting the Wind) Aster reckoned this wouldn't take much longer.

The ten traded looks, fear on their faces, and scattered.

'That's actually kind of disappointing,' Jack said, leaning on his staff, and tossing a grin at Nightlight, who was doing the same. 'Scaredy cats.'

'Thank you,' Nightlight said, inclining his head and smiling, his glow settling into the warm, far off light of a harvest moon. 'What are you doing so far from Riverfield?'

'You don't know the half of it,' Jack replied flippantly. 'Also, Emma? Holy shit. You threw that guy halfway across the _lake_.'

'He deserved it,' she sniffed. She looked over at Nightlight, and shrank a little. 'Hi,' she said more quietly. 'Um – do you remember me?'

'Of course I do,' Nightlight said, his smile going a touch solemn, and he inclined his head again in a little bow. 'Nicholas talked about you and your brother all the time.'

'Yep, this is Great-Uncle Nightlight,' Jack said with a mischievous grin, and Nightlight's glow stuttered.

'Jack, no,' Aster said, cuffing Jack on the back of his head. 'Katherine's going to kill ye.'

'Oh, come on, everyone knows,' Jack blathered on, oblivious to Aster's warning motions. 'They travel around together all the time, they're practically married, and Katherine looks like a kicked puppy whenever he's not around –'

'Jack!' Aster interrupted, and Jack blinked, before looking over at Nightlight's shell-shocked face.

'Are you serious?' he said, then rolled his eyes. 'Okay, you know what? Katherine's so getting it when we get back, okay, she's not allowed to give me shit about you and me taking forever if she hasn't even –'

Aster elbowed him, hard. 'Stuff it, Jack,' he said warningly.

'Um,' Nightlight managed, his glow stammering as hard as his words. 'Does – does everyone really think –'

'Yes!' Jack exclaimed, trying to struggle free when Aster grabbed him, intent on covering his mouth if he had to. 'Are you two really the only ones who can't see it?!'

'Jack,' Emma said sweetly, and the three men looked at her. 'Eight. Years. Of pining and sighing and whining, oh my god, the whining, I didn't know someone _could_ whine by letter –'

Jack went a bit pink in the face. Aster chuckled, and set Jack down again. 'As awkward and amusing as this is,' he said, raising an eyebrow at Jack, 'we should get moving before any of this lot wake up.'

'Right you are!' Jack announced, and stepped into the air. 'Emma, come help me with the packs – no, don't make that face, come on –'

The two siblings set off, squabbling, and Aster walked over to Nightlight.

'Ye good?' he asked, looking him over for any obvious injury. 'They didn't get ye?'

'No,' Nightlight replied. He shook his head, then gave Aster a look, his glowing eyes too knowing by half, and he laughed a bit. 'So.'

Aster gave the look right back. 'Heard ye were heading home for someone who was waiting for ye,' he said, and again, Nightlight's glow stuttered. 'Don't plan on giving ye any guff if ye don't give me any.'

'Fair,' Nightlight acknowledged with a wry grin. 'Though there really isn't –'

Aster just shook his head. 'Ye keep telling yerself that, and ye'll both be as old as North before ye get it figured out.'

'We're happy the way we are,' Nightlight said.

Aster flicked his ears. 'Then don't let Snowbird bother ye,' he said. 'He just wants ye both to be happy. If ye're happy as ye are, then don't change. He'll lay off eventually.'

Nightlight nodded. 'I'm glad,' he said after a moment. 'For you two.'

'Well, thank ye,' Aster said, shuffling a bit, 'but it's a bit new yet. Save yer congratulations for when we figure out if it'll work or not.'

'Where is their mother?'

Aster swallowed. 'Dead.'

Nightlight nodded, face twisting in a brief, sympathetic grief before smoothing out as Jack and Emma returned. 'Let's get moving,' he said, joining Jack in the air and his glow turning a faint, urgent indigo. Aster wondered privately if he knew Katherine's words turned the same colour when she got determined. 'How fast can you go?'

'As fast as you,' Jack said. 'And Cottontail could outrun us both, you know that. Set the pace. We'll keep up.'

Nightlight nodded again, taking one of the packs from Jack as Emma climbed onto Aster's back. 'Home, then,' he said, and soared into the sky, Jack hot on his heels. Aster followed, Emma's grip secure around his neck, and the earth beneath him grew both steadily more familiar, and more afraid.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the dealio, folks. Next update will be a rare triple threat, as I'm posting 23, 24, AND 25 all together. This is specifically so that I can post 26 and the epilogue together, since the epilogue is about as long as two chapters, anyway.
> 
> However, since I've been updating twice a week for a while, you lot have probably gotten used to it - HOWEVER! There's going to be at least a week's break between the triple-post and the finale, because of reasons.
> 
> If it's not posted on the 28th or the 30th, given my irregular internet access, it will be posted on the 4th. Thank you for your time!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the triple threat begins. First chapter of the day, folks, and you know what that means!  
> -whispers menacingly-  
> The last piece of happiness you will see for a while.

**CHAPTER 23**

  
  


They reached the western pass when the sun had begun to list westward, and took a moment to gather themselves. Jack had gone quiet, nerves betrayed by his white-knuckled grip on his staff, and Nightlight's glow had dimmed.

Emma took it upon herself to pepper Nightlight with questions, and so Aster sidled over to Jack, who leaned into him like he needed the support. 'What's wrong, Snowbird?'

'We could see Riverfield from way up,' Jack answered in the same quiet tones. 'The town's fine, don't worry, but there's – like a camp? Set up all around it. It looks like a lot of people. I wonder what happened while we were gone.'

'Refugees, ye think? Like at Plainston?'

'Maybe,' Jack shrugged, his shoulder butting into Aster's. 'I don't know. We'll find out soon, anyway.'

'She'll be right, Jack,' Aster said, covering his own nerves with the need to reassure. 'We're almost home.'

'Yeah,' Jack said, and looked up, his blue eyes like the deepest part of the sky. 'Did we ever decide the debate re: sheep or goats?'

'I told ye no for both, and ye said ye'd get both just to make me spit the dummy,' Aster answered, smiling. 'So for now, let's stick with chickens, yeah?'

'If we got a sheep, I could spin yarn,' Jack said, smiling back. 'Good trading stuff, knitwear.'

'I don't doubt it. I'm looking forward to me new scarf, meself.'

'I love you,' Jack said quietly.

'And I love ye,' Aster answered. 'So let's get home, Snowbird.'

'Absolutely,' Jack said, taking to the air and landing a kiss on Aster's cheek. 'I've missed that bed, you have no idea. You've spoiled me for straw forever.'

Aster chuckled, and turned back to Nightlight and Emma, only to find them watching with matching looks of exasperation and fondness. 'Don't either of ye start,' he said mock-threateningly.

'Start what?' Emma asked innocently, brown eyes big and wide. He'd have fallen for it, if Jack hadn't warned him.

'Come on, up, Em,' he said, and scooped her up. She shrieked with laughter, and let him manhandle her around until she was secure on his back.

'You've changed, Aster,' Nightlight remarked, stepping into the air, his lance tight in his grip but his face stretched in a smile that carried a tinge of pride. 'You're happier now.'

'That'd be my good influence,' Jack said cheerfully, and Aster rolled his eyes.

'Ye don't get a say, Snowbird,' he said, and Jack just laughed at him.

It was another half hour down from the western pass to the town at their collective top speed, and Aster loped in past tents and slapdash huts that hadn't been there when he left. The ground beneath him was trampled and heavy with the fear that filled the camp, and he knew none of the faces he passed.

They made for Nick's house, and by the time they'd arrived, Nick was standing outside, looking hilariously anxious for such a giant man.

'Emma!' he shouted, nearly tripping down the stairs as he leapt towards them, and Aster crouched, letting Emma down. She took a hesitant step towards Nick, but he was having none of it; he gathered her up in a massive hug, her tiny frame easily swamped by his, and they clung together. Jack settled down beside Aster, taking his paw in his hand.

'You brought my granddaughter safe to me,' Nick said, looking over Emma's head and directly at Aster. 'She is unhurt? She is well?'

'Right as rain,' Aster assured, watching him cradle Emma close.

'And my daughter in law?'

Jack's hand tightened painfully in Aster's.

'We didn't make it in time,' Aster said gently. Nick's eyes closed, and he leaned his head against Emma's as her shoulders began to shake.

'You have done best I could ask, Bunny,' Nick said at last. 'Please, come in. Jack, can you send message to Tooth and Sandy? Katherine is inside – Nightlight!'

The man in question descended at last, and nodded at Nick. 'Lead the way,' he said, glowing faintly brighter.

Jack sent the Wind away with a flick of his fingers, and she dropped Aster's dam's needles in his outstretched wind before going. As they walked into the house, Jack carefully wiped down each one and tucked it back into its felt case.

They found Katherine in the workshop, sitting alone at the great table and the letters and words around her heard a dark, worried blue. She looked up at the door's opening, and relaxed a little at the sight of Aster and Jack.

'Thank god,' she said quietly. 'I was –'

Nightlight stepped in, and she was on her feet in an instant, striding over to him with steps that almost didn't touch the ground. 'Nightlight!'

'I'm here, Katherine,' Nightlight said, and she flung her arms over his shoulders, hugging him tightly and muttering something fierce under her breath. The words around her head wavered back and forth from a relieved, sunbright orange and an annoyed lemon yellow, and Aster averted his eyes, giving them their privacy.

He ushered Jack further into the room, ignoring Jack's smug smile, and took a seat beside him. Nick had set Emma in the seat Katherine had occupied, the one beside his own, and when Katherine and Nightlight came over, there were still two chairs empty.

There was a tinkling noise, but no accompanying wind. 'Hey, Tooth,' Jack said, voice cheerful.

'Don't you 'hey, Tooth' me, Jackson Frost!' Tooth shrieked through the connection, and Aster flattened his ears in self-preservation. 'Do you have any idea how worried I was, where are you, are you at Nick's, we'll be right over –'

'Whoa, calm down, we're fine, thanks for asking,' Jack said, rolling his eyes at Aster. Aster nudged him with his elbow. 'Who's we? Are you with Sandy?'

'I'm grabbing him on the way,' Tooth replied, her wings whirring audibly through the connection, and Aster tilted an ear towards the noise. 'Baby Tooth is coming, too. She's been worried sick – sorry, dear, I know, I know, you don't want me to call you that –'

Jack nodded. 'Okay. That'll be fine.'

'You just stay where you are. Nick, if you can hear me, don't you tell them a damn thing until I'm there or I'll gut you with your own knives.'

Aster raised his eyebrows at that – Tooth didn't tend to threaten bodily harm unless she meant it.

'I understand, Tooth,' Nick called. 'My mouth will be sewn shut.'

'Zipped, you old fool,' Tooth corrected, but Aster could hear the laughter behind it. 'And the same goes for you, Jack, no stories until I get there.'

Jack rolled his eyes again. 'You got it,' he said, and with a brief, sliding note, ended the message. 'What?' he said at Nick's curious look. He glanced at Aster, who made a motion towards his own throat, indicating the short song. Jack nodded, clearly having forgotten in the course of the journey that he hadn't really done that around others.

The trip had changed them, Aster knew. He just hoped that it wasn't too much.

'Nothing, Jackson. I am glad to have you home,' Nick said with a great smile, looking between the two of them. 'Come, we should get ready for guests. I will bring them in. Katherine, Nightlight, please help Emma set the table? Bunny, Jack, please go make tea.'

He left the room, and Jack got up, too. 'We'll be back,' he said, sounding a little exasperated. 'Come on, Aster.'

Aster followed him out into the hall and through the circuitous pathway into the kitchen. Jack held open the door for him, and Aster turned towards the pantry as Jack closed the door.

'Aster?'

He turned back to Jack, who was leaning on the door, eyes closed. 'Are ye okay?' he asked, concerned.

'We made it,' Jack said, opening his eyes, and Aster jerked to see tears gathering in the corners. 'We made it home. Holy shit, we _actually made it_ –'

Aster was moving before he could tell himself to do so, sliding his arms around Jack's waist at the same time as Jack wound his own around Aster' neck, and he kissed Jack hard, mouth moving already against Jack's lips.

'Aster –' Jack began to say, and Aster interrupted with his tongue, sliding it over Jack's bottom lip. Jack gasped and let it in, pressing up and flat against Aster's body, fingers curling clawlike in his fur.

He pressed Jack into the door with it, the relief and the joy and the grief and the anxiety all there in the kiss, and Jack kissed him back with all the same. He wrapped his legs around Aster's middle, as if he wanted to wrap himself around Aster entirely, and the thought was not foreign to Aster at all; he wanted the same, wanted to keep Jack safe and well and happy. Jack bit at his lip, and Aster jerked. To his horror, his cock began to slip out.

'Not right now, Snowbird,' he said, but Jack just kissed the words out of his mouth, out of his head.

'We'll make it quick,' Jack muttered against Aster's lips, 'but god, I've been waiting to do this all day – after the fight, after all this – you got us home safe, Aster –'

'Ye did more than yer fair share, Frostbite,' Aster said, but it was cut off by a light moan as Jack rocked forward.

'When this is all over,' Jack whispered, 'I'm going to pin you to your bed, and I'm going to fuck you until you _scream_.'

Aster jerked forward, catching himself on the door with one paw as his knees went a little weak. Jack just took the opportunity the hard surface behind him offered, and rolled up again.

'J–Jack, hold on,' Aster panted out. 'North will be back any time – this is going to take too long –'

'Then why don't you help out?' Jack asked impishly, hips unceasing.

'I planned to, ye dill,' Aster said, lower and heavier than he'd thought he could, and with his free paw, began to pick apart the laces of Jack's pants.

Jack rocked up into the touch, eyes going wide, and groaned a little too loud when Aster wrapped his paw around him. Aster caught the sound with his mouth, and said, 'Hush, now. Ye don't want everyone to hear ye, do ye?'

Jack's answer was a high, almost silent whine as Aster slid his palm up. He caught his own cock up in the next movement, the two almost too much for his one paw, and was startled by Jack's slim fingers joining his.

'Come on, Aster,' Jack whispered, thrusting up into their combined grip. 'Oh, god, touch me, please –'

Aster carefully rested his weight against Jack, his hips forcing Jack's wider, and slid his other paw down Jack's back until it rested on the swell of his ass. Jack made a lovely choking noise and tightened his legs around Aster's waist. 'Oh, god, please,' he breathed. 'You don't have to do anything, just –'

Aster was losing himself in the rolling motions, in his grip and Jack's together on his cock, in the babble of Jack's hushed words. His paw slid lower, down under Jack's thighs, and brushed against Jack's balls. They tightened at the touch, and Jack tossed his head back, almost cracking it against the door. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck,' Jack muttered, muscles in his throat going taut. 'Fuck, how do you feel so good, this is so unfair, fuck –'

Aster licked mindlessly at Jack's neck, down to his collarbone, the fading bruises of his own paws on the shoulders and the even fainter bruises from the ropes of Plainston. He nuzzled them equally, body growing warmer and warmer until he shuddered against Jack, soaking their hands.

'You got another one in you?' Jack whispered, hand still moving. Aster nodded wordlessly, chin brushing over Jack's shoulder, his neck, his jaw. The scent left behind made his mind go a little blank, the way it smelled against Jack's own scent, the way it screamed to the world 'he's mine', and he supposed he understood the possessive side of Jack in this way. The desire to say 'this man chose me, out of everyone, he chose _me_.'

'Oh, _fuck_ ,' Jack whispered, and buried his mouth against Aster's to muffle the deep moan that rumbled out of his chest. The feeling of his cock twitching against Aster's was too much for him, and Aster moaned right back into Jack's, trading sound for sound.

'We are such a mess, my god,' Jack said after a moment. 'One of these days, we need to do this completely naked, you hear me?'

'Loud and clear, love,' Aster panted back, his body still shaking. 'I can't believe we just did that. In Nick's _kitchen_ , god, Snowbird, he might kill me if he ever finds out.'

'Then we make sure he never find out, Bun-bun,' Jack replied, catching Aster's mouth in a quick kiss. 'Now, help clean us up so we can actually make tea. North didn't give us long.'

'What, ye think he sent us off together on purpose?'

'Well, he didn't send us off together for this,' Jack said, shrugging one shoulder, 'but it was definitely a 'give the two idiots time alone' kind of look he gave me.'

'Ah, he sent us off for Katherine and Nightlight, then,' Aster nodded, then frowned. 'Wait, then why did he keep Emma with them?'

Jack opened his mouth, then scowled. 'Oh, that sneak,' he said. 'It _was_ for us.'

Aster chuckled and began to run the water.

After another five minutes they were clean and put back together, with a kettle of hot water between them and the last of Nick's stores of chicory tea. When they returned to the workshop, it was still just Katherine, Nightlight, and Emma, chattering away to each other. Katherine had visibly taken a shine to Emma, the words around her head a soft, pale violet, and Nightlight was listening to them talk with a small smile.

'Nick not back yet, then?' Aster asked, setting the kettle down.

'Any minute, I expect,' Katherine said, smiling. 'I'm so glad all of you are safe. It was torture, waiting here for word.'

'I'll bet,' Jack replied, and took his seat. 'Wasn't such a fun trip on our end, either. What did I call it, Bun-bun?' he asked, rolling his head to look at Aster.

'The road trip from hell,' Aster recalled, mouth twitching into a grin. 'If I'm reckoning properly.'

'Oh, yeah,' Jack said, wagging a finger at Aster. 'That was it. What, first there was –'

'JACKSON FROST, WHAT DID I TELL YOU?'

Tooth's furious shriek had Jack leaping into the air, yelping like a scalded cat. She soared into the room, small hands balled up into smaller fists, and looked like she'd happily murder him. 'I told you to _wait_ for me, and what do I hear as soon as I enter the house?!'

'I didn't even get to say anything!' Jack protested, diving behind Aster's chair like Aster wouldn't get up and let Tooth have at. 'Kath, help me out! Tell her I didn't tell you anything!'

Katherine shook her head, smiling hard, and mimed zipping her lips shut. Behind Tooth floated Baby Tooth, followed shortly by an exasperated looking Sandy and grinning Nick. Aster glanced over at Emma, only to find her gaze fixed firmly on Baby Tooth, eyes wide.

Tooth seemed to realise she had a stranger in the room, because she straightened up and smiled charmingly at Emma. 'Hello, my dear, you must be Emma,' she said, floating over regally. 'Your clodhead of a brother has told me all about you, we've been so excited to meet you. Baby -'

Baby Tooth glared at her mother, fussing with her feathers, and Tooth actually paused, surprised.

'Hi, Padma,' Emma said very quietly. 'Jack told me about you.'

Baby Tooth beamed, large violet eyes sparkling, and she reached out for Emma's hand. Emma flushed a wild pink, but then her own eyes widened; Baby Tooth had evidently begun speaking in her head, and soon they were happily chatting away in the corner, Emma talking in a low voice and gesturing with her free hand. Aster was pretty sure he'd just seen a lifelong friendship born, and smiled in their direction.

The adults settled around the table, leaving the two girls to their own devices, and Aster poured tea for everyone, feeling very much like he was at some kind of war council.

'Before we tell you about our trip,' Jack said before anyone else could start, 'could someone please tell me what's with the tent city outside? What happened?'

'Mt. Sheafer was attacked,' a new voice said behind them, and Aster turned, startled.

A man he'd never seen before, older than Nick, older than maybe even Sandy, strode through the door. His face carried the many lines of a man who'd lived a life of joy, but they were bent strangely now in his seriousness. 'My apologies, Nicholas. I didn't mean to be late.'

'Is alright, Ombric,' Nick said, smiling brightly. 'Aster, Jack, this is Ombric, my mentor from many years ago, and dear friend. He leads the people of Mt. Sheafer.'

'Pleasure,' Aster said, and Jack waved a bit.

'I have heard much about you two,' Ombric said, smiling gently, and took the final seat at the table. 'But I'm afraid we should save lengthier introductions for later. You wished to know what happened?'

'Can't help if we don't know,' Jack said with a nod.

'Very true. But it is an unpleasant tale.'

'Can't say ours will be much cheerier,' Aster shrugged. 'Are all yer lot alright, then?'

Ombric's face, already solemn, grew pained. It looked wrong on his face, since Aster suspected he tended to spend most of his time grinning. 'All that we could save. We had very little time.'

Aster winced sympathetically. 'What went wrong?'

'A darkness came in the night,' Ombric said, staring straight ahead, at a point somewhere above Tooth's head. 'It blotted out the stars. A panic descended on the people, sending them to and fro, fighting amongst themselves. Mothers abandoned children, brother shoved brother into the darkness. And it burned.'

Aster reached out and gripped Jack's hand, who gripped him back, knuckles gone white with his fear.

'We rallied, and led as many as we could out of the darkness. Everywhere we looked, smoke billowed, but no flames lit the night. The smoke blistered the skin and sent the victims into a frenzy. We were forced to leave behind many. The people of Mt. Sheafer now number less than two hundred.'

'God,' Aster said at the same moment as Jack muttered, 'Fuck.'

'Quite,' Ombric replied, his face twitching in involuntary amusement.

'I told you he'd get back here before we could,' Jack said, turning to Aster.

'But why did he attack Mt. Sheafer?' Aster asked back. 'He said he was coming for Riverfield.'

'You know who did this?' Nick rumbled, leaning forward, and Aster traded a glance with Jack.

'Do ye want me to explain, or do ye want to do it yerself?'

'I, uh,' Jack said, then gripped Aster's paw again. 'Sorry, but could you –?'

'No dramas, Snowbird,' Aster said, bumping Jack with his shoulder. He turned back to the others and rolled his eyes at the looks on most of their faces. 'Don't ye start,' he warned them, Katherine held up her hands, looking delighted.

'Just real quick,' she said, and Aster sighed, waving a hand. She turned to Nightlight and said, punching him in the arm as she did so, 'I _told_ you it was requited! You owe me so much right now, Nightlight, you have no idea –'

'Is this relevant?' Aster interrupted, eyebrow raised.

'He told me you weren't interested in Jack, and that Jack would get over it eventually,' Katherine said, ignoring Nightlight's futile shushing motions. Her words were a triumphant green as she continued, 'I told him you two might end up old as us before you figured it out, but it was so mutual, and I just –' she punched Nightlight again. 'Called! It!'

Jack was laughing helplessly beside Aster, who'd laid his ears flat in embarrassment. 'Katherine, now is not the time,' he said, trying to sound authoritative, but she just laughed over him. 'Katherine, so help me, I'll never let ye pinch blueberries again if ye don't back off.'

Her laughter died abruptly. 'You wouldn't.'

'I would,' Aster said, scowling now. 'Will ye let me tell the story, or are ye gonna keep this up?'

'I'll let it go for now,' she said, the words a defeated rose colour around her head, 'but only because I have years to pick on you two to go.'

'Ye'll have years without a single blueberry, is what ye'll have,' Aster muttered, and Jack snorted beside him. 'Anyway, so here's how it started.'

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of three.  
> -jaws theme starts playing-

**CHAPTER 24**

  
  


The telling was long and involved, and despite his own intentions, Jack began to speak as well, giving details Aster hadn't noticed and a different point of view. They had only just made it to Plainston in the telling when Baby Tooth and Emma joined them again, looking solemnly from Aster to Jack and back again as they wove the tale between them.

There was a loud outcry that took several minutes to calm when Aster relayed what had happened in Plainston. He himself had to fight to keep from growling in anger when Jack, casual as anything, described his manhandling at the hands of the plainsfolk, the way they'd tied him up like a piece of bait for anything that had come by. Tooth made distressed noises at the sound of Aster's injuries, but grew quiet when Aster described how he'd healed it.

'But you don't have a healing gift, Bunny,' she said at last. 'How did you think to do it?'

Jack and Aster traded looks; in Jack's eyes was the question of whether or not to tell them about the strange dreams. Aster replied in a tiny shrug that it was up to Jack if he wanted them to know. Jack sighed and made a sweeping gesture with his hand, fingers curling at the end, and it seemed to say, if they think we're crazy, I'm blaming you.

Aster nodded, and said, 'Someone told me how, in a dream.'

The response he got was not one he'd been expecting. A unanimous flinch travelled around the table, from Tooth's tiny shiver to Nick's full-blown pushing away from the table. Ombric's face grew somehow more grave, and Sandy was staring openly; Nightlight was looking at Katherine, and Katherine at him. The only ones unaffected were Baby Tooth and Emma, who just looked at him curiously.

Aster frowned, but knew he had to continue. 'It was – meself, but not. Taller. Wore clothes I've never seen in me life. He'd shown up in a dream just before we left town, too, and again – later.'

'You saw yourself?' Katherine pressed, sitting forward. 'Did he mention – I mean –'

'He said something about being on the outside, not that I understand that,' Aster shrugged. 'Later on, he told me that –' he struggled to remember the exact wording, and eventually settled for a paraphrase. 'That if Jack and I failed, then everyone would fail. All of us, but that's not right.' He rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'It was closer to – he said something like 'Every Aster, every Jack, every Ombric and Nick, Tooth and Sandy, Katherine and Nightlight. We'd all fail, everywhere.' He shook his head. 'Can't imagine what that means, tell ye the truth.'

'And you, Jack?' Katherine pressed, turning to the man in question, her words blazing blue around her head. 'Are you dreaming, too?'

Jack flinched. 'How do you know that?'

'I've been – dreaming. For some time.' she confessed, and the silence following her words was as heavy as Jack's grip on Aster's paw. 'Of myself. She's so young, but so old at the same time, and she keeps warning me about a man who's coming.'

'Pitch Black,' Jack whispered, and again, around the table, a chorus of flinches. 'What does this mean? Are we all dreaming of – of ourselves?'

Each adult at the table nodded. Emma just looked frightened, until Baby Tooth laid a hand on her arm, her touch empathy giving the both of them someone to be afraid with.

'And they're all warning us?'

Again, the round of nods. No one, not Nick, not Tooth, not Katherine had any words.

'Fuck,' Jack breathed. 'Then – fuck.'

'Jack?' Aster asked, turning, and Jack's face was paler than usual.

'We need to get everyone to safety, now,' Jack said flatly. 'I don't know how, I don't know where, but he's not going to be long behind us, he could be here any minute –'

'Jack, why are ye –'

'Don't you guys get it?' Jack demanded, shoving away from the table. 'We're all dreaming of ourselves, all of them warning us of this coming, all of them knowing each other – and you think Pitch wasn't waiting for _all of us to be in the same place?!_ '

Emma and Baby Tooth whimpered in unison, eyes gone wide with fear, and Jack flinched. 'God, I'm sorry, Em, Baby Tooth –' he said, rising from his seat and flying to the both of them, tucking them into his arms. 'God – I'm, shit, I'm so sorry –'

'Ombric, help me gather the people,' Nick said loudly, drawing attention away from the two shaking children. 'Tooth, gather the fighters.'

'You got it,' she said, suddenly every inch a dangerous woman, violet eyes glinting in the light. 'Padma, come with me. Get your sisters. Do you remember what I taught you?'

Baby Tooth nodded, joining her mother in the air. She patted Emma, and whatever she said must have been surprising, because Emma involuntarily giggled before clapping her hand over her mouth. Baby Tooth looked triumphant as she flew to her mother's side.

'Good. You know where the fire jars are stored.' Tooth caught Aster's confused glance, and grinned. 'I didn't always heal people, Bunny,' she said as airily as if she was discussing the weather, but there was a far off cast to her gaze. 'There was – war. I came here for a reason.'

It was more than she'd ever said about where she'd come from, and as she spoke, her voice took on a faintly musical accent, the same sound her daughters took on when they spoke amongst themselves. Baby Tooth had already flown from the room, and Tooth herself flew to Aster, laying a hand on his shoulder.

_Someday I will tell you,_ she said, and her eyes were sad, her grip warm. _I'm not ready yet. I haven't been. But I will tell you, I promise. I'm sorry to keep secrets_.

'We all keep secrets,' he said quietly. 'No dramas.'

_Thank you_ , she said, and smiled again. 'And besides, if what I've been telling myself is true –' her grin turned feral. 'Well. There's a lot of different mes who owe a lot of different Pitchs some payback.'

'Sandy, you are in charge of ill and children,' Nick instructed, having been talking to Ombric about how best to move people without causing panic, and Sandy nodded in answer, chest puffing up importantly. He flashed a quick set of figures within a single circle, and began to stalk out the door, sand fair dripping from him as he began to create plans and sketches and diagrams only he understood.

'Nightlight, you and Katherine need to organise scouts,' Nick continued, turning to them. 'Katherine, you are not flier, but –'

'I'm the best organiser you've got,' she finished, words pale peach with understanding, and hugged her adopted brother tightly. 'Be careful, Nick.'

'Always.'

'Get everyone within the town limits,' Aster said to Nick and Ombric as Katherine followed Sandy out the door, Nightlight floating behind. 'When Jack and I met Pitch –'

'Pardon?' Ombric said, sounding dumbstruck. 'You _met_ him?'

'Gave him something to remember me by, too,' Jack said darkly, and gripped his staff.

'We'll give ye the rest of the drum later, just _listen_ to me,' Aster snapped out. Nick and Ombric turned to him, frowning. 'When we met him, he couldn't get through the earthblood – the life magic I use,' he explained hastily, having forgotten they didn't know its name. 'And when Jack deflected it from crashing over, it couldn't get through his ice. Before I got there, it wasn't working.' Aster swallowed, then looked at Jack, who was looking back at him. 'I think our gifts work differently near one another.'

'That might be true,' Tooth piped up unexpectedly. 'Gift synergy.' She shrugged at Aster's look. 'Sometimes people work better together than apart, that's all.'

'Then you two will be in charge of defence,' Nick decided. 'Emma, you will stay here –'

'Fat chance!' she said, standing, and Aster nearly couldn't recognise her behind the twist of fury on her face. It was such a far cry from the frightened child she had been only a few minutes before. 'He killed my Ma!'

'You will not fight him!' Nick thundered.

'Then give me something to do!' She shouted back, completely unfazed by his tone. 'I can't just sit here! I have to help!'

'Definitely yer sister,' Aster muttered to Jack as Emma and Nick squared off, both glaring in the exact same, immovable way.

'I'm going to take that as a compliment,' Jack said, leaning into Aster's side.

'Ye should,' Aster replied. 'Are ye ready for this?'

'As ready as I can be,' Jack confirmed.

'Fine,' Nick said, scowling now. 'You will assist Sandy with caring for children and ill. You must stay away from any fighting! Your mother would kill me, I put her daughter in danger.'

'Yeah?' Emma snapped back, still angry, grief and passion warring on her young features. 'Well, Ma's dead. She doesn't care anymore.'

Before Aster could say anything, before _anyone_ could, she turned and strode from the room, fists bunched up at her sides and angry tears trailing down her face.

Jack was still beside Aster, and the only thing he could do to help was take Jack's hand in his paw, a gentle reminder that there was still a world beyond his grief. It took a moment, but Jack shook it off, setting his face in hard lines that Aster had last seen outside the little wooden cell in Plainston. He thought privately that between Tooth, Emma, and Jack, Pitch should be terrified of what was waiting for him.

'We're going to go let Kath and Nightlight know what's going on,' Jack said, voice steady. 'Wind, stay with Tooth so we can confer, got it?'

The Wind chimed audibly and flew to Tooth's side, hovering beside her.

'Let's go,' Jack announced, and with his grip still strong in Aster's, marched from the room.

  
  


Aster had never felt quite so tense in his life. On his back, his sire's – his now, he supposed – boomerangs were a comfortable, familiar weight, tucked into the bandoleer he always wore, and his bracers were fitted again to his forearms. Beside him, Jack stood, his staff between his two hands like it was the only thing keeping him anchored to the ground. In his hand, he held the roll of grey felt, emptied of needles; the Wind hummed, circling above them and glinting dangerously in the starlight.

They'd done the best they could with limited time. Jack was right, after all; Pitch could arrive at any moment. He'd purposefully destroyed Mt. Sheafer, solely to drive Ombric to Riverfield. The old man's dreams had been almost nightly, and though Aster suspected Tooth knew more than she was admitting to, Ombric was the one with the most answers at the moment.

Nightlight had led the scouts out. None had found nothing unusual, but reported a sense of nervousness the longer they were out, and Aster knew why – the earth itself was terrified. He could feel the earthblood beneath him quivering, the fear in the trees and the grass and the river shivering through his bones. Something was coming, something that had been circling and waiting and stalking, they told him. They were so happy he was home, but so afraid of what he'd brought with him.

He'd pulled up pools of earthblood around the town proper, each a little harder to pull up than the last. When he'd had enough, he connected the pools together, weaving a net like the one he had for Cirrus, and built each strand up individually until he was certain they could withstand more than a few blows. Jack kept near him during the work, letting Tooth direct them to where she had stationed watches so Aster could set up more nodes, and watching the skies carefully with a face like a storm cloud. He answered any queries in monosyllables, preoccupied and distracted, and Aster didn't ask, focussed on building up the only true defence that they had. If this was to be their last stand, he would have the earth remember that he'd done his best.

The trees within the town spoke gladly to him as the earthblood woke them up, telling him what was happening miles away; if he'd wanted, he'd have had eyes all along the Eastern Mountains, so to speak. He asked them to keep track of his people for him, and so had a rough idea of where Sandy, Emma, Tooth, Baby Tooth, Nightlight, Katherine, Nick and Ombric were at all times. He kept Jack abreast of the situation, and Jack would nod and respond quietly.

Night fell, most of the town and the refugees from Mt. Sheafer huddled in the town hall and the surrounding buildings. Now Jack and Aster stood at the south point of the town, watching the night and trying to keep their minds both alert and unafraid.

Aster had no idea what precisely Pitch's gift was, if it could be called such a thing. A blight, he thought quietly, scanning the trees and listening to their voices rattling off locations. _The green fliers, east near the oak with the hollow,_ they whispered. _The eldest unrooted, beside the ice mover. North, beside the twin elms. The sand and the small breeze, with the nest of unrooted. The glowing warm, with the starcrowned. West, in the tall hemlock. The green fliers, east near the oak with the –_

'You know,' Jack said, the Wind dropping to wind around his neck like an affectionate snake, the needles all kept well away from his skin and making intermittent humming noises, 'you're really good with kids.'

'Pardon?' Aster asked, not taking his eyes off the forest but dropping his ears in Jack's direction.

'Like, you were great with Emma, and Sophie Bennet hangs off your every word when you're in town. Baby Tooth thinks you're the coolest thing on two legs, and – I just, I don't know.' Jack took a deep breath. 'I was just thinking that if this went belly-up –'

'It won't, Snowbird.'

'It might,' Jack said back, and before Aster could argue further, he said, 'I dunno, I just – if we don't win, I'm gonna be really sorry I never got to see you with ours.'

Aster looked over, surprised. 'Hate to tell ye this,' he said seriously, 'but I don't think that's something I can give ye whether or not we win.'

'We could always adopt, or something,' Jack said with a shrug. His eyes were dancing brightly, cheer and nerves in equal measure as he gazed at Aster. 'Or – I don't know. Be those crazy uncles down the road. It would be nice.'

Aster smiled softly. 'It will be ace, Jack, me love.' He put the faintest stress on _will_.

Jack looked at him, hope like light in his blue eyes. 'You sure about that?'

'In a couple years, we'll see where we are,' Aster said.

'That's what you said about the marriage conversation, and literally the next day you were yelling at me about it. And not even angry yelling.'

'I won't yell about it this time,' Aster said, reaching out with a paw. Jack took it, weaving pale fingers between Aster's furred ones. 'Because even if I have to ask ye a thousand times, I'll ask a thousand and one, just to hear the one where ye say yes.'

'See,' Jack said, sounding a little like his throat was closing up on him, 'That? Way better than last time, Bun-bun.'

'Told ye I'd practice,' Aster said, though he'd done no such thing, and Jack laughed, choked up and exultant.

'Then yes, you asshole,' he said between gasps. 'I'll marry you and live the rest of my life waking up to your dumb face, because god, I can't imagine it any other way now.' He was grinning wide now, like his face had no idea how to do anything else, and Aster smiled back, helpless and wondrous with it. 'The wedding can wait a while, though.'

'Course it will,' Aster said, and put on as serious an expression as he could when he felt like his heart was about to spill over, glowing white and green. 'Still got to get ye yer chooks and yer jumbucks, and tell Nick ye aren't living with him anymore.' He shuddered at the thought, because Nick would either taunt them incessantly or throw a fit. Neither were great prospects, in his opinion. 'Got a lot of work to do, Snowbird.'

'Only you could make all the greatest things in the world sound like work,' Jack griped, and Aster laughed. 'I love you.'

'And I love ye,' Aster returned.

Jack just smiled at him for a long moment, blue eyes like little lights in the darkness, and held his paw.

The earthblood trembled beneath Aster's feet, the trees crying out in shock and pain, and Aster glanced up, sucking in a deep breath.

'The stars,' he whispered.

'I don't see anything –' Jack said, squinting up, then froze. 'Fuck.'

'He's here,' Aster whispered, and around them, beneath them, the earth shivered in fear.

 


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third of the day, and oh, my loves, I am sorry. But this was always, always coming.

**CHAPTER 25**

  
  


'He's here,' Aster repeated, then louder, calling to the sentry two hundred yards to his left. 'He's here!'

The message passed down the line like lightning, the warning echoing in dozens of voices in a ring around the town, and Aster crouched down, digging his paws into the earth.

'Ye ready, love?'

'For some payback?' Jack asked, spinning his staff in his hands faster than Aster's eyes could track, and his feet left the ground. 'This fucker's going _down_.'

'Be safe,' Aster begged, the earthblood already beginning to respond to him. 'For me.'

Jack looked at him, love and sorrow in equal measure on his features. 'I'll try my best. You stay safe, too. If you're gone, I'm not sure I'll –' he shook his head.

'Remember what we said,' Aster said. 'If I go, ye take Emma and take care of me farm.'

'If I go, you take her, you understand?' Jack said, dropping to face level with Aster, floating horizontally over the earth. 'North loves her, but the town – it won't be good for her. It's too far from the water, full of too many curious people. You take her, you give her a good home, you got it?'

'I promise. 'Sides,' he said, and smiled a bit. 'What kind of brother-in-law would I be if I didn't?'

Jack kissed him, hard and desperate, and it was the kind of kiss that Aster immediately recognised as one he never wanted to have to go through ever again; it was a goodbye, a just in case, an 'I love you' and an 'I'm sorry' all at once. It was insurance that at least Jack had made himself clear one last time.

'Go,' Aster said, his paws curling in the dirt, because that wasn't what he wanted to say at all. 'Later, I believe we had plans for me bed.'

'You've got it, Aster,' Jack said against his mouth, then rocketed into the sky, the Wind chasing him with a howl that sounded like a hunting cry.

Setting his shoulders back, Aster dug into the earth. _Ye know what I'm going to ask_ , he said to the earthblood, taking care to use true words, not the jumble of instinct and image that he usually communicated with. _We're not fighters, not like last time. We have to keep the town safe. These people deserve life._

The earthblood answered in much the same way, the words slow and alien, the voice utterly inhuman but comforting in that fact. _This is what we were made for_ , it assured, and the whole earth trembled with its certainty, it felt like. _This enemy, and all of him. We were made to fight the fear. It is not just life you wield, not with the Storm-maker beside you. The Ice-carver, the Memory-keeper, the Dream-weaver, the Light and the Story, the Spell-teacher, they make you strong. But the Storm-maker and the Earth-waker? Land and sky joined at last?_ The earth trembled again, and he trembled with it. _We need not fight. We need only stand firm._

The voice rolled in his head, crashing against the walls of his skull and reverberating down into his bones. _What are ye talking about?_

_You are life, and he is joy,_ the earth said. _The continuation of that? Happiness and years to come? That is_ _ **Hope**_ **.**

The earthblood began to _grow_ beneath his paws, the light stabbing upward towards the darkness with white branch and sharp leaf. Had he the ears to listen, Aster would have heard cries of surprise from his fellow mutts, but as he was, he couldn't.

There was something – more, growing in the centre of his chest. The sense of green his sire had given him, the care and compassion from his dam, the protective instinct towards the town that lay behind him and the love that Jack had gifted, it was blooming up and down in him, shaking his grip on who he was.

For a brief, shining moment, he was more than just Aster – he was something he had no name for, billions of years and three decades warring for position in his mind, names he didn't know he'd had and faces he didn't know he'd worn flashing before his eyes like the flickering of a candle flame.

_Who are you?_

_E. Aster Bunnymund,_ he said to the voice with no age or gender or sound. _I am Hope, and Life, and –_ the green in his chest had a name, he realised. _And Spring._

_At last_ , the voice sighed. His own being – soul – whatever – reasserted itself as the full Aster, and Aster opened his eyes shakily to see the earthblood latticed in the air, and the shadowsmoke lapping frustratedly outside it. He had no concept of the time that had passed, but he suspected it wasn't inconsiderable; he could hear the other mutts, now. Somewhere behind him and to his left, the sound of shattering glass – the fire jars, tossed by Tooth's daughters. When he spared a glance, he saw them doing more damage than he'd thought they would, the shadowsmoke retreating with hisses from the onslaught.

The trees outside the earthblood wall were sobbing, and it hurt to hear. He directed what little earthblood he could spare to their roots, just gentle waves compared to the ocean he held between his paws, and the sobbing settled down into soft whimpering. They would live, he thought, but not without pain. Not unchanged.

The trees that could still speak were relaying information rapidly, having taken to their duty as spy network like fish to water. Aster knew that Tooth and her daughters fought on the east side, Katherine and Nightlight on the west, and North and Ombric were lashing out to the north. Jack had supplied North with a spar of ice that glowed a faint blue, according to the trees – _like the sky, like the sky_ , was the whisper – and North was striking with great swings of his arms, the ice turning a red like the ring that sometimes glowed around the moon. Aster had no idea what _that_ was about, nor the silver light leaping from Ombric's fingers that was being reported to him, but didn't much care. Whatever was happening was _working,_ from the slashes of Nightlight's lance that pulsed a deep blue-violet to the orange flares firing from Katherine's handgun and sparking off her short dagger, and he'd take it.

The trees outside the wall seemed to be saying something new, other fires that were beginning to burn elsewhere in the root system, and Aster grit his teeth. Nothing he could do, no matter how it pained him to say, and he prayed that whatever trees were burning with Pitch's fear could forgive him for leaving them behind.

'Aster!' Jack shouted from above, and Aster twisted around as well as he could without breaking contact with the ground, staring as Jack tumbled down, panting. 'Aster – the farm –'

Aster froze in place, the distant burning finally clicking into place. 'No,' he whispered.

'Aster, it's burning right now,' Jack insisted. 'We can see it from the air! If you run, you can make it, stave it off –' he paused. 'Aster, you have to go!'

'I can't, Snowbird.'

'What do you mean you –'

'The earthblood's keeping this town from burning right now, and I don't know if it'll stay if I break contact,' Aster said in a rush, the words tumbling over each other on their way out of his mouth. 'I can't go.'

'But –'

'It's just a farm, Jack!' Aster cut through.

'It's your home!'

Jack's words cut at the core of him – god, he was right, and Aster knew it. But if it was a choice between his farm, all the ghosts that had haunted him for almost fourteen years, and this town? These lives? It was no choice at all.

'Me home was something I built with me dam and me sire,' Aster said softly, turning back to the wall of earthblood and digging his fingers further into the earth. 'I'll build another one.' The _with you_ went unspoken, but heard all the same.

'This isn't right, Aster,' Jack said, and when Aster looked back, his face was both griefstricken and angry. It was something, Aster supposed, to have someone so bereaved on your behalf. He wondered if Jack had felt the same swelling of love and agony in his breast that Aster felt now, when Aster had held him and they'd both cried for his dam, lost to Pitch's flames. He almost hoped not, that Jack had been spared that, but he hoped more that he had given even the tiniest modicum of comfort. That was always going to be more important than a little heartache.

'No, it's not,' Aster said, swallowing down all of the pain that wanted to rise up and drag him down, the way it had when he was sixteen. _It's gone already. Do yer mourning later_. 'But the only person who can be blamed for it is right here, and I don't intend to let him get away with it.'

Jack's hand reached out, tangling fingers finding purchase in thick fur. 'I'm going to find him,' he said, voice colder than Aster had ever heard it, 'and I'm going to kill him.'

Out of the smoke, just beyond the white, shining branches of light, crept a voice, smoothly terrifying, archly urbane. 'Will you, now?' it asked, and seemed to emanate from all around them, echoing like off walls of stone. Cries of shock could be heard all over the town, and Aster could feel the trees shrink into themselves. 'Little Jack Frost,' it taunted, 'never noticed, always ignored. You never did anything of note, after all – who would want to pay attention to you when there was always someone better? First it was your father, then your sister, then – well,' the voice chuckled. 'It's not like your dear, sweet Aster paid attention, either, is it?'

Jack stiffened beside him, and Aster snarled. 'Ye shut yer ugly gob, Pitch!' he shouted, fury rising in his bones.

'And, oh, poor, lonely Aster,' the voice said, curling into Aster's ears. 'Left all alone in the woods with whatever slaughtered your parents and feasted on their limbs – and so _strange_ , so odd and unfriendly, no one to love you, no one to care.' he laughed. 'Why help them? They never helped _you._ They took and took and never gave, and even Jack – your only friend, always busy, too busy for you.'

'That's not true!' Jack snapped, his hand so tight on Aster's shoulder that it would bruise.

'Oh, how rude. I have neglected some of you, haven't I?' the voice said, tsking, and its focus shifted, somewhere on the east perimeter. 'Like sweet Toothiana. Toothiana the mother and the doctor, Toothiana the friend, Toothiana the broken, Toothiana the _murderer_.'

The focus shifted again, dizzying, dragging Aster's attention with it. 'And brave Nightlight, terrified of all the shadows that have tried to swallow him. Katherine, all of her words trying to fill the silence in her heart. Ombric, the man caged by all of the responsibility he brought on himself, unable to trust any around him. Nicholas, the leader who failed every member of his family. Sandy, who buries himself in his books and his histories instead of facing how _hard_ everything is.'

The voice laughed in full this time, and Jack trembled beside Aster in barely contained rage. 'Your collective fear is wonderful,' he whispered. 'How do I know all of this? I can hear the question on the air.'

The voice grew uncomfortably close, like it was murmuring over Aster's shoulder. 'I know your fears,' he said. 'That is my gift. And you all will _burn_ with it.'

There was a shriek, higher and angrier than anything Aster had ever heard, and it took everything he had not to rip his hands out of the earth and clap them over his flattened ears. 'Pitch Black!' Tooth was screaming, and Aster could – feel her, a shining point of violet light in the sky behind him, the same way he felt the earthblood beneath him and Jack beside him. 'I have had _ENOUGH!_ '

She darted towards Aster and Jack, and Jack rose into the air to meet her. 'Bunny, hold the perimeter,' she said, and she carried two slim swords in either hand, the shape of them unfamiliar to Aster but clearly old friends to Tooth. 'Jack, you're with me.'

'What's the plan?' Jack asked, the Wind howling to life beside him.

'He wants to call me a murderer for acts of war?' she spat, eyes wild and dangerous. 'I will show this pathetic excuse of a mutt the meaning of _war_.'

'Count me in,' Jack said, baring his teeth.

'I'll hold it,' Aster said. 'Get him good for me, will ye? For me farm.'

'You got it, sweetheart,' Jack said, and Aster blinked at the endearment, ears flicking up and around. Jack seemed to take no notice.

He and Tooth rocketed up and over the earthblood wall, the entwined branches parting enough to give them passage, and Tooth flew faster than Aster had ever seen her do, faster than Jack, who was straining to keep up. She executed a neat roll and dive, wings tucked tight to her back as she dove at the smoke. Around her was a faint violet aura, and the shadowsmoke shied away from it, hissing when she neared and swung her swords, neat slices leaving sparks in their wake.

'Have you come to fight me at last?' Pitch was simpering. 'Oh, Toothiana, I _am_ flattered.'

'Do you think we would forget?' Tooth demanded, half shriek, half command. 'She was right. I was right. We remember the Fearlings, we remember all of it, every world you devoured, every universe gone dark, every story burned –' she flipped her swords in her hands and ripped directly up, parting the shadowsmoke and revealing a startled-looking Pitch Black. 'And I may not be able to kill you everywhere you deserve it, Kozmotis, but I can kill you here!'

She dove forward, and Aster leaned forward, wanting desperately to help but rooted to the ground by duty. Pitch dodged to the side, surprise fading from his face and replaced with confusion. 'Are you quite sick?' he asked, mocking concern in his voice as he sidestepped another swipe. 'It seems as though you might have me confused with some other victim.'

'I fought for my people, I saved what I could – and I won't have you call it murder!' She scored a deep cut across his cheek with a twist of her wrist.

'And yet you failed, and left so many bodies behind you. Tell me,' and Pitch was smiling, dark blood running down his face. 'Do any of your – friends – know where you came from? How you left India burning like I left Toreno?'

'It wasn't the same!' she screamed, and scored another hit against his arm. It was a feint, though, and the arm smacked into her light body, splattering her with blood that was not her own and sending her tumbling until she smashed into the wall of earthblood, crumpling to the ground.

'Tooth!' Aster called desperately.

'So easily shoved aside,' Pitch simpered, stepping forward – only to have Jack drop down between him and Tooth's groaning body.

'Take another step, asshole,' Jack said, pointing the crook of his staff at Pitch, 'and see if you can shake off ice to your stomach as easily as you did one to your shoulder.'

'My, my,' Pitch said, smiling with a crazed glint in his golden eyes. 'Have you reconsidered my bargain?'

'And what? Spend the rest of my life killing people and watching you burn the world to the ground? No fucking thanks,' Jack spat. 'Sorry, I'm off the market. Not looking for a new partner.'

Pitch's eyebrow rose, and his gold eyes skated over Aster through the white-green wall of earthblood derisively. Aster ignored it in favour of shouting Tooth's name. 'You? And the rabbit? Truly?'

Jack visibly bristled.

'Tooth, ye need to get up,' Aster called, urgent. She was stirring, but she had taken a blow to her head, and he had no idea if she even _could_ get up. 'Tooth!'

'That is exactly none of your fucking business, you creep,' Jack said. 'Besides, do you have any idea who that rabbit is?' Jack twirled his staff and planted it in the earth, ice spilling out from it and radiating outwards in a vast star shape. It blew hard against Pitch, sending him stumbling backwards, but split around Tooth's body and climbed up the trees like the first frost of autumn, gleaming and glowing with a bright blue light. 'That rabbit,' Jack continued, as if he hadn't just lit up the night sky, as if above him, clouds weren't beginning to gather ominously, 'is Evergreen Aster Bunnymund. He feeds everyone in Riverfield without a care for himself or getting paid for it. He travelled over three thousand miles to save people he didn't know. He saved a village that tried to kill me and kidnap him as soon as he did it, and didn't even think of revenge for one second. And that _rabbit_?'

The ice thickened, several inches deep and the most violent blue Aster could imagine. 'That rabbit is _mine_ , and I'll thank you to _back the fuck off_.'

The ice splintered up and a howling Wind took them into herself, carrying the splinters beside Aster's dam's needles, and she became more than a Wind; she became a Gale, a Hurricane. She screamed towards Pitch, who gave a startled cry as the needles and the splinters alike ripped tiny holes in his flesh, worming underneath the robe's arms and scoring their way up his arms.

'B-Bunny?' Tooth managed after a second, and Aster almost sobbed with relief.

'Tooth, ye and Jack need to get out of there,' he called. 'Ye need to move, now. The two of ye alone can't take him!'

'Can't you hear him?' Pitch said mockingly to Jack, wiping blood from his face. 'He sounds so _scared_ , Jack! Won't you go to him, before something bad happens?'

'What, like what's about to happen to you?' Jack shot back, and the ice was growing again, the storm above building strength, bearing heavily down upon them all.

'Not even a bit,' Pitch sang back, and the shadowsmoke rose, preparing to dive down on him.

'Jack!' Aster shouted.

'You tried that already,' Jack taunted, and with a swipe of his crook dispelled the shadowsmoke.

'No, I don't believe I have,' Pitch replied.

'Jack!' Aster screamed. 'Below!'

Jack tried to leap into the air, but it was too late – the shadowsmoke wound around his ankles, up his body, and with a piercing cry, he whirled to face Aster. He pointed his crook at Tooth, unable to move as the shadowsmoke crept towards her, and ice spilled in a bubble around her.

'JACK!'

Jack's last look at Aster was one filled with regret, and sorrow, and a love that Aster could feel resonating in his breast.

Then shadow swallowed him, and he was gone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week! -cackles-


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apparently made people cry with the last update. Whoops.
> 
> Well, here's we are, at the end. Please keep all limbs (I don't presume to judge whether they are arms, legs, tentacles, flippers, or what have you, we're a nonjudgemental bunch here at the Proser Corp.) inside the ride at all times, and remember - I have never once, in the history of my writing, given my characters a bad ending.
> 
> Well. Once or twice. Maybe.
> 
> First chapter of the final triple-threat chapter post!

**CHAPTER 26**

  
  


'Jack, no,' Aster whispered, staring at the spot where Jack – living, breathing Jack, laughing and smiling Jack, Jack with his kisses and his jokes and his frustrations and his love – was no longer. 'God, please. Not Jack.'

'And that was a delightful interlude,' Pitch said cheerfully. 'But I am afraid that this has gone on too long. You know where to find me, Earth-waker, when you are ready.' Pitch stepped back into the shadowsmoke and it retreated, taking him and – and Jack, with it.

'No,' Aster repeated hollowly.

He had no idea how long he crouched there, staring beyond the earthblood to an empty spot on the ground. He barely registered Nightlight landing beside him, being tugged to his feet; he didn't notice the way the life died back, and the light faded, and the way the stars had returned. He was led back to the centre of town, Nightlight carrying the battered Tooth in his arms, and didn't recognise any of the earth beneath his feet. No trees spoke, no river burbled, no grasses swayed near; all the world was still in his grief, because Jack was – Jack was –

The only thing that moved was a rain, needling and ice cold, and Aster realised that it was Jack's rain, Jack's storm. Putting out the last of the unnatural fires, soaking Aster through, and as aching as any broken bone.

This was unacceptable. This couldn't be the truth, couldn't be how this ended. Any minute now, Jack would come tumbling out of the sky, grin on his face, twirling his staff like he hadn't just scared Aster past all reason. He had to. He would.

Aster felt raw, sliced to pieces. Jack didn't come. Jack was gone.

'Where is Jack?' Nick was roaring, and Aster sensed that it might be at him, his ears finally registering the voices of other human beings, but he didn't have the capacity to answer. 'Where is my grandson?'

Finally, Aster dragged an answer out from the depths of himself. As broken as the words would leave it, he still had a heart. He couldn't stay silent when Nick was all but begging.

'Pitch got him,' he said, and his voice was dull and empty, even to his own ears. 'Left nothing behind. Either that, or he took his – his –' Aster couldn't say the word, and ended the sentence with a cracked, 'with him.'

Nick's face crumpled for one brief second, before tightening into the lines of the town mayor. Aster wished for just a moment that he had that kind of control, but then, the wish was subsumed. He had more impossible things to wish for now.

'Then we go on,' Nick said, voice only wavering the tiniest bit. 'We do not know when Pitch will return, and we are down two of our best fighters. You will need –'

'He's not coming back,' Aster interrupted, and the small green thing in his chest that had bloomed so recently was stirring again, growing prickly with needles. 'I know where he is.'

'What?' Nick asked, and palmed the hilt of his sword. Around him was a faint light, as red as a banked flame in a December hearth. 'Then we must hurry.'

'Sorry, Nick,' Aster said, and stepped back once. 'Afraid this is bizzo between him and me now.'

'Aster, you are not thinking to go alone,' Nick said, watching him warily. 'If two could not take him, how do you expect to do so and live?'

'I don't,' Aster said shortly, and stepped out of Nick's reach pre-emptively. The others were still, staring at him, and for just a brief moment, he could see them shining: red and silver, indigo and orange, a faint violet in Nightlight's arms and a still-distant gold. No blue. There would be no green soon, either.

His sire had been wrong. When the fire came, even evergreens burned.

'Ye make sure Emma grows up well, ye hear?' Aster continued, voice growing steadier as he spoke. 'I promised Jack I'd take care of her, but that doesn't look like that's going to happen.'

'Aster, don't you dare,' Nick warned, unsheathing one of his swords. 'If I must beat you unconscious to keep you here, I will do so!'

'Have to catch me first, mate,' Aster said, and grinned with a black humour. 'Good luck, Nick. Ye were a good friend.'

'Aster, no!' Nick shouted, but Aster had already leapt past him, towards the farm, sprinting full out and leaving nothing but a dust in his wake.

The Wind shrieked beside him, still carrying his dam's – Jack's – needles, and Aster huffed out a laugh as they began to find pockmarked bits of dead ground beneath his feet. 'Glad to have ye with me one last time, little miss,' he said, and she chimed fiercely, lovingly. She was the only blue in the landscape, and it wasn't the blue of the sky; it was the blue of mountains' shadows, of sharp snow under moonlight. It was still blue, though, and he loved her for it. He leapt over the creek, and when his paws touched the earth, he called to the earthblood beneath.

It answered, singing and screaming with him and where he passed, the trees that were almost curled in on themselves straightened, the black earth retreated, and he could hear the voices for the last time, shouting. They called to him, begged him to not do what they could feel in every brush of his feet to the earth, not to extinguish the one great light that still walked the earth, but he willingly closed his ears to their voices for the first time in his life. They were right, and he knew it; he'd made a promise to Jack. He ought to keep it.

But there was a higher duty here, he could feel it in his bones. Something more important than himself, or, god help him, than Jack's death. Pitch had to be stopped. Pitch had to be ended.

He told himself that until he came up on the burnt remains of his farm a moment later, and he swallowed back a sob.

He'd made the right decision, and he stood by it, but everything he had loved, everything he had built, was nothing but ash. From his home to the fields to the man he'd planned to spend the rest of his life with only an hour or so earlier, there was nothing left.

A dark, thin figure stood in the centre of the destruction, and Aster loped over, the Wind at his back and a thick, roiling anger in his blood.

'You've come at last,' Pitch said as he neared, and Aster stopped a few feet from him, stood to his full height, dug his toes into the dirt for balance. Behind him, below him, the earthblood was gathering. It pooled around him and began to seep up from the earth, the ground gleaming a faint green. The Wind sang a low, sweet note, like funeral bells.

'Tell me,' Pitch asked, gold eyes intent on Aster, seemingly ignorant of the great movement only a few inches below the surface of the scorched earth, 'do you even know your own fear?'

He stalked to the left, and Aster turned his head, keeping him in his sights but not moving from his spot. The Wind followed Pitch's movement, darting to blow between Aster's left side and the prowling mutt who had destroyed everything.

The earth beneath him was vibrating, and he could swear he could hear it. He knew at last why the people of Cirrus had called it the 'ground hum'.

Behind where Pitch had been waiting was a lump. Aster didn't look too closely at it, because he knew that if he confirmed his suspicions, identified the shape in truth, he would be lost. The only way to keep his head above water was to ignore it utterly.

'Underneath all of the anger,' Pitch continued silkily, smiling now, 'all of the grief, do you even recognise the terror? I can feel it pouring off of you.'

'Yeah?' Aster replied flatly. 'Good. Glad to hear the last thing ye'll remember is something ye like.'

Pitch laughed, a high bright sound of glee that rang out in the wide clearing. All the trees his dam had nurtured, burned to ash; the gardens, the fields nothing more than black earth; and still, Pitch's voice echoed like it had something to bounce off of. 'Is that your grand plan, Aster? Waltz in, defeat the great villain?' his smile had a sardonic twist to it, but bizarrely, he sounded genuinely curious. 'Shall you save the town, then go back to your quiet life?'

'Well,' Aster said, letting the earthblood pool deeper, thicker, move with more purpose than he'd ever felt it do in his life, 'I'm not here to fuck spiders.'

He'd tried this once before, and failed. He didn't think the grief was lesser then, or now; he'd been sixteen, his parents a day gone, and he'd tried so hard to lose himself. The earthblood had pushed him away gently, and when he'd awoken, four days had passed, him laying asleep in the fields and the gardens as bursting with life as they ever had been under his mother's care. Now, though, he knew better what he was doing. He gathered the earthblood up, as much as would answer him, as much as the earth could give him. It curled up out of the earth like new shoots, twining around his limbs, whispering without words. He felt his dam there. He felt his sire. He felt all the lives burned by Pitch's flames, but try as he might, he couldn't find Jack. Maybe his soul was too new. Maybe Aster didn't actually want to find it. It didn't matter, he thought, holding out his paws, bracing his legs sturdily against the dirt.

And then he opened himself to the earthblood, utterly and without barrier.

_Take it all_ , he told the bright light. _Take Aster, take the love, take the anger and grief and joy and hope and all of it, take me and make me something that will end Pitch at last._

The earthblood answered, a singing sorrow filling his bones and radiating out of his skin, limning his fur with green and white and the faintest hint of a far off, wintry-sky blue. In his chest, the growing thing began to grow taller, thickening with bark, needles growing sharp.

In the distance, he could feel answering lights – kind, fierce violet and bright, wondrous red; vivacious orange and deep indigo, warm gold and ancient silver. The blue that should have been there in full was not, and jarring in its absence, but the Wind remained, and she gave her light without reservation, the needles still held in her current as gleaming as fish in a river.

It would have been easier with the other lights nearby, he knew without knowledge of how, but this was enough to be going on.

'Beautiful light show,' he could hear Pitch say, 'but I'm afraid it's not –'

Pitch made a choking noise as the white light pierced him right through the middle, a spear of a branch, and he hung from it, scrabbling at the light with useless fingers and hissing in a wet pain. Blood began to well up from his body and dripped to the ground from where it ran down his legs, dangling like some grotesque fruit. Or pitch. Pine pitch, something thought, a little amused.

'You cannot kill me, Aster!' he called. 'There must always be fear!'

Whatever it was becoming, it no longer recognised the name Aster as its own, but knew it had a voice, and spoke purely for its own satisfaction.

'Maybe elsewhere,' it said. 'But not me earth. Not me town. And definitely not _ye_.'

The branch cracked up and curled in on itself, the light devouring the shadowsmoke that tried to rescue its wielder, and with a scream of high terror, Pitch was swallowed as well, dissolved, not even atoms left of him now.

What the mutt known as Aster had become, relaxed at last. The mutt known as Pitch Black, Fear, was gone, consumed in this world. He would not be so in every world, in every story. The new thing, unused to its many limbs and new sense of deep roots in the earth, settled back. The lump that had been so determinedly ignored before now caught its attention, and with a gentle shuffle of earth, it brought the lump closer. A movement in the air, cold-sky in colour and glinting like it carried slivers of stars, circled around the lump before tucking its stars in among the blue bark atop the lump's wood.

The lump lay beneath the new thing's branches, and the new thing was content.

  
  


It was a loud world, the new thing was learning.

It was rooted, the other – rooted – told it. Their roots touched its, and passed along knowledge like they did to any new seedling, no matter how large.

Am I large?, the new rooted asked, a little bemused.

Very large, it was assured. Larger than any other rooted in the entire system, and they ran for billions and billions of trees, stretching from the edge of the tundra in the far, frigid north to the marshes of the far south.

But I'm a seedling, it argued with all the self-assurance of the newly educated.

You are a special seedling.

Ah. It supposed that would explain it.

It settled into this life and didn't consider where it had come from. It knew now that its roots ran deeper than any others, and that seedlings were normally very small, and could take hundreds of moons before it reached any respectable size. It knew it was strange.

The other rooted loved it anyway.

You are the way rooted once were, they told it. We used to be more awake, more a part of the world.

What happened?, it asked.

The Ending, the others said. From beyond the great warm in the sky. The Ending made the earth sick.

Then why're we here?

The earth and the moon, the others answered. The earth asked the moon to help, and the moon gave the unrooted its life, that they might not be lost.

Unrooted?

The little ones who walk around your trunk.

The new rooted had noticed the strange things that spent time around it. The first time it had felt the great warm in the sky on its needles, in fact, some of the – unrooted – had come for the lump it'd been watching over. It had disappointed the new rooted, but it thought perhaps the unrooted were taking care of the lump now. They were certainly taking care of _it_.

Unrooted would visit almost daily, always the same few – two that were green and flew, one smaller than the other; another that flew, but glowed like a small great warm in the sky; one that carried tiny stars around its crown, and a tall unrooted with orbs set in its crown that were like the sky. A small yellow one who left sand scattered around and made incomprehensible pictures out of stars and earth. An old one who carried itself heavily and sat silently for a short time before leaving, though this one only visited once. An unrooted with long brown leaves on its crown came when the great warm in the sky first rose, and wouldn't leave until the moon had rose in its stead. Each day this unrooted came, and spoke to the new rooted the entire time. Though it couldn't understand what the unrooted said, it enjoyed the sound and the breezes that came with it.

A few cycles of great warm in the sky and moon passed by, not too many. No more than two dozen, the new rooted thought. Almost a full moon, actually.

The long-brown-leaved unrooted was sitting in the new rooted's branches, and swinging its bare roots as it spoke.

The new rooted shivered as the unrooted said a word at last that it understood.

What's a jack?, it asked the other rooted.

We do not know, came the answer.

The new rooted longed to understand more, but other than a few more repetitions of the word 'jack', it couldn't puzzle it out.

For the first time in its (admittedly) short existence, the new rooted was frustrated. The word was familiar, and it thought the word might have something to do with where it came from.

That dark, when the moon rose, it asked, whose seedling am I?

No one's, the others replied. You grew on your own.

But I'm a rooted, it argued. I must've come from somewhere.

You did. You came from the moon.

The new rooted considered this. How so?

The moon gave his life to the unrooted, and the earth shaped that life, made it her own, the other rooted answered. She gave the unchanged gift, the life gift, to two of the unrooted, in hopes that it would sprout. You sprouted. The other withered. It is how life works.

So I'm not a rooted?

You are, the others assured him. More deeply than any of us. But you are unrooted, as well.

Then why don't I – move like they do?

We do not know. Something happened. You buried the Withered One.

I had a name, the new rooted said.

You were Earth-waker, the others said.

No – I mean, I was, the new rooted answered, but I had an – unrooted name. That's what jack is, it realised aloud. It's not a what, it's a who – its an unrooted!

There was a surprised rustling in his local root group, one that rippled outwards. Are you beginning to remember, Seedling?

I think I might be, the new rooted said. I was – I was a kind of small rooted – a flower. Me name was a flower.

That is an unrooted word, the others whispered. You are remembering.

I think I was a... tree, too, the new rooted said as the great warm in the sky began to rise. Me name was. I had two names. No, I had three. I was – he couldn't remember. He remembered he was a he, at least.

He had no idea why remembering was so important, but as the great warm – the sun – rose, he thought he was beginning to understand.

The unrooted who had come by every day – a young one, he realised, and her long brown leaves (hair) braided back in a familiar pattern – was here again. She climbed into his branches and settled against the trunk. He still couldn't understand almost any of her words, but today the word 'Jack' featured prominently in all that she said, and when the day had passed and she left, he was left with a feeling of anticipation.

The moon above him was silent, would always be silent; he was dead now, after all. But he still watched, and loved them from afar, and the new rooted thought that wasn't such a bad way to be.

'Hey.'

The new rooted shook himself a bit, equally startled by the new voice as he was by the fact that he'd understood it. He realised a flying unrooted – a man, with hair the pale silver of the moon and eyes like the sky – was settling into one of his branches. His touch had the distant promise of frost, but it was high summer, and the new rooted was unafraid. The new rooted thought that, perhaps, there would be no reason to be afraid of this unrooted's frost even in the dead of winter.

'They say you might be able to hear me,' the unrooted said, leaning against the trunk. 'I think they were mostly pitying when they said that, though.'

He sounded so sad, so exhausted, that the new rooted shuffled his branches as close as he could, just in case the unrooted fell. The man laughed.

'Maybe they're right,' he said. 'God, Bunny, I know I said you didn't do anything by half, but I didn't think you'd go and kill yourself to prove it.'

_Bunny_ , the new rooted thought. _That's part of it. Bunny – Bunnym – Bunnymund. Me last name was Bunnymund._

'Tooth's going to kill me, though, when she finds out I snuck out of the hospital,' the unrooted was saying, hands stroking the new rooted's bark gently. 'I can hear her now – 'Jack Frost, you get back in bed this minute or I'll –'

_This is Jack,_ the new rooted thought, the heartwood at the centre of him growing warm. This man was the first word the new rooted had known.

'I couldn't stay there another minute. I had to come see you.'

The new-rooted ( _Bunnymund,_ he tried out, but that wasn't quite right) quivered a bit. The unrooted leaned against the trunk, curling into it, and Bunny ( _that's closer_ ) tucked his branches nearer.

'I miss you so much,' Jack whispered. 'I didn't know I could miss someone this much. I mean – god, I shouldn't say that. I miss Ma like crazy. But she – she was just letters for eight years, you know? And I know she loved me, but she was so far away and so distant that, god, I'm so fucked up for not missing her more.'

Bunny shuddered his trunk, because that was wrong. He may be a tree, but he knew that when woodpeckers came and drilled holes in you, it wasn't your fault. He knew that trees grew sick and became earth again while their neighbours were perfectly healthy, and that there was no point to guilt on either side. And when you didn't get along with a birch that was getting a little too greedy about the root space it was taking up, he knew it was okay to be angry. He didn't really understand what Jack was talking about, but he suspected that it was a little bit of all three.

'Can practically hear you,' Jack mumbled, curled up tight in a ball, nestled in Bunny's branches. ''It's not yer fault, Snowbird'.'

Bunny agreed with the statement, so he didn't bother taking offence at Jack's mocking tone.

'But you listen to me, okay? Even if you're a tree forever, I wanted – I wanted to say thank you. You saved my life, and the lives of everyone, god, everywhere. No one's seen Pitch since that night, and the lights coming from off your farm have pretty well convinced everyone that he's gotta be dead.' A pause. 'I've been dreaming again. Other Jack said – said you might still be alive. Might be able to come back.'

Jack dug his fingers into Bunny's bark, resting his temple against his trunk. 'So if you can come back, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much it hurts, please come back. I'm so selfish, Aster, you have no idea –'

_Aster,_ Bunny thought, and that fit him much better, in his opinion. It wasn't all of it, though, and Aster strained to remember, his entire trunk(body) shivering now, his needles(fur) on end.

'– and if you could just come back,' Jack was crying now, great shuddering sobs like when he'd been mourning his mother (and how did Aster remember that, what were those branches(arms) that held Jack close), 'then, god, I'd do anything, anything at all. I just don't know _how_.'

Aster huddled close, as close as he could get with this body(trunk) and these arms(branches), his fur(needles) wet with Jack's tears.

'I told you to be okay!' Jack shouted, clinging to one of Aster's arms(no, they're branches, aren't they?) 'I told you to be okay, I told you, and you didn't fucking listen! So help me, Evergreen Aster Bunnymund –'

_Evergreen_ , Aster thought, like a needle falling into the one empty sliver on the ground during autumn. _Evergreen Aster Bunnymund. I'm E. Aster Bunnymund, and I'm Spring, and Life, and Hope._

There was a great shuddering that ran all down his trunk, and with an ear-splintering roar, a crack opened, a wide gash through which spilled an ocean of white and green light. Aster could feel himself again, not as a tree, but as a human – as a mutt. His paws were at the ends of his arms, his feet solid against the wood of the tree, and when the light faded, he managed to stumble out of the gap, holding onto the lower branches for support, until he made it past the roots as tall as he was and touched earth again.

'Aster?'

Aster looked up at the whispered question, and there was Jack, floating against a backdrop of endless green, dotted with flowers everywhere – delicate white drooping heads and tall, sturdy pink and red blooms.

'Jack,' Aster murmured back, and stumbled forward, reaching.

Jack dove forward with a cry, tumbling Aster backwards, spilling kisses all over his face, everything he could reach. Aster returned the gesture, nuzzling with his nose and chin, leaving his scent on every bare inch of Jack's skin available to him. The grass was soft beneath them, the moonlight and air warm, and Jack lay atop him, his face buried at last in the crook of Aster's shoulder.

'You came back.'

'I could hear ye. Ye were the only one I understood. I couldn't remember anything, not even me name, until ye said it.'

'Thank god you're back,' Jack said, muffled in Aster's fur, and Aster cried, unashamed of it. Now that he was himself again, he remembered the emptiness, the loss, and to have Jack back in his arms, whole and well, was something he'd never thought he'd have again.

'Thank god ye're alive,' Aster said back, the words a little lost in a sob, and Jack laughed a bit, the sound a touch hysterical, and there was a growing wetness on Aster's shoulder.

'Me? I'm not the one who was a tree for three weeks!'

'No, ye're just the one who tried to take Pitch on singlehandedly.'

'You? You have no leg to stand on in that argument, do not start with me, Aster –'

'Aster, now? No more 'sweetheart's?'

'I'll call you sweetheart when you're actually sweet, you prick,' Jack said, but he was laughing now as well as crying, and Aster was doing the same, trading sobs for chuckles and vice versa. 'You have so much to make up for, you understand me? Years of making up for this.'

'I've never heard a better plan in me life,' Aster declared, and Jack grinned down at him, eyes red-rimmed but so, so loving.

'Really? Because I think a lot can be said for tea and blankets.'

Aster felt his face fall. 'Haven't got any of that for ye right now. Haven't got much of anything.'

'You have everything,' Jack insisted. 'You've got you, and me, for what I'm worth.'

'Apparently eternity as a tree.'

'Oh, please, it was _only_ three weeks, let's not get melodramatic here.'

Aster threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing in the night, and all around him, the earth laughed with him.

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of the three post, and at last, we have arrived at the epilogue.

**EPILOGUE**

  
  


If Aster had thought the remembering was the hard part, he clearly had never even suspected the explaining that would have to come after.

Tooth insisted on keeping him in the hospital for a week straight on bed rest, after punching him clear across his jaw and hugging him tightly enough to almost kill him for real. Nick and Emma were the first ones to get at him after that, even before Jack (who was enduring a lecturing that Aster could hear loud and clear, even though it was down the hall). Emma flung herself at him, and he caught her up in a hug.

'I came every day,' she whispered.

'I know ye did,' he said. 'I couldn't understand ye, but I could hear ye. Thank ye for keeping me company.'

'Bunny,' Nick said, his voice flat and cold, 'if you ever hurt my family like that again, you will be new rug in my hall. Am I making myself clear as crystal?'

'Of course,' Aster said, nodding his head contritely. 'I didn't mean to cause ye lot all this grief –'

'Our grief would be lesser,' Nick continued dangerously, 'if member of our family did not turn himself into tree.'

Aster stared.

'You are family now, and have been for long time,' Nick said, placing his hand on Aster's shoulder. 'I think of you as grandson, and dear friend. We are happy you are back.'

'Th-thank ye,' Aster mumbled, ears flat to his head.

Sandy entered the room then, and Aster sat patiently through one of the most graphically violent speeches Sandy had ever given, and accepted the hug, even though it left sand in his fur. Katherine and Nightlight came the next day, stopping by before they continued on. The people of Mt. Sheafer were founding a new home in the western pass, to be named Santoff Claussen, and they intended to help them build.

'We'll be back come August,' Katherine assured him, 'and if you need help building then, we'll have all the practice we need.'

'Appreciate it,' Aster said, smiling at her. 'Ye two take care of each other now, ye hear?'

Katherine went a bit red in the face, and Aster frowned, before it clicked. 'My god,' he said, his smile widening. 'After all these years, ye two finally –'

'See you in August, Bunny!' Katherine said hastily, and all but shoved Nightlight out the door to the sound of Aster's laughter.

At last, Jack was allowed back out of bed, on strict orders to not leave the hospital; Aster found out precisely thirty seconds later, when Jack soared into his room and landed with a heavy thump atop him. Aster just laughed, and wrapped Jack up in his arms, and took the nap he'd been contemplating before Jack had arrived.

  
  


'I have an idea,' Jack said a few days later. Aster was to be released from Tooth's iron-fisted care the coming morning, and though Jack had been discharged two days earlier, he'd not left the hospital, preferring instead to keep Aster company. 'About a new house.'

'I'm all ears,' Aster said, and twitched one, just to hear Jack laugh. That was never not going to be his favourite sound.

'Well, it's just – there's a massive tree in the middle of your farm now,' Jack said. 'And by massive, I mean we could probably fit this hospital in it, no sweat.'

'It's not that big, is it?' Aster asked, frowning; it hadn't seemed so large when he'd been inside it.

'I exaggerate a lot of things, Bun-bun, but for once I'm not,' Jack confirmed. 'And there's a big chunk of it – a bit bigger than your house used to be, I think – that's just dead wood now, even if the rest of the tree's still good.'

'That's no good,' Aster said. 'Poor thing'll start to rot from the inside out.'

'Which is why I think you should hollow out the dead part, and build a house in the space,' Jack said, and grinned at the look of surprise Aster shot him. 'What?' he said after a minute. 'I thought it was a good idea.'

'I – it is, Snowbird,' Aster said, still a little stunned.

'Well, don't sound so surprised.'

'It's not that, ye dill, it's just –' Aster was thinking hard now, his paw drumming a bit on his lap. 'I think I can do it, and keep the tree alive, if we're careful,' he said. 'Might even be able to work out some kind of system for windows, if the poor thing's still got a conscience in it.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, I was the tree, Jack. Might be a dead tree anyway now that I'm out, for all that it's still green.'

'We'll find out, and deal with that when we get to that point,' Jack said. 'If it won't work, that's fine, we'll build something else.'

'Only ye'd think of building a house into a giant tree,' Aster teased.

'You'd just have to build around it anyway,' Jack replied peaceably. 'I really don't think you understand just how big you really were.'

Aster scoffed. 'Only trees that get that big died out long ago,' he said.

'Kind of the point of a life gift, then, huh?' Jack asked, and Aster flinched at the word, memories of lights and distant faces and names that were both his and had never been so ringing in his head. 'Bunny?'

'That's me,' Aster said quietly, looking down at his hands. 'Life, and Spring, and Hope.'

Jack flinched as well, then pressed forward. 'What did you just say?'

'I'm Life, and Spring, and Hope,' Aster repeated, looking up. 'Or – maybe the other me is. Maybe all of us are.'

'That's –' Jack's eyes were huge. 'That's kind of what he – I – said. Right after Pitch –' he shuddered. 'After the dark ate me.'

'Oh, Jack,' Aster said, reaching out and pulling him into his arms. 'What happened to ye?'

'I don't know,' Jack murmured. 'The fire had me, I remember. Tooth wasn't moving, so I covered her in the ice. And then – then I wasn't, any more. Like, I wasn't a thing for a minute, maybe? Or I was a lot of things. A lot of different Jack Frosts.'

Aster rubbed at Jack's back, holding him near and nuzzling at his brow. Jack just wormed in closer, fingers digging into the fur of Aster's back.

'It was a lot. I don't remember most of it. I'm pretty glad I don't remember most of it. But I heard someone ask me who I was, you know? And I just said Jack Frost. That wasn't enough, though. It wanted more. And I looked at all of the different Jacks I was, and then I said, I'm Joy, and I'm Winter. Then the voice was satisfied.

'I think we're the same people as all of those other Jacks and Asters. Like, there's one for every story, you know? And we all grow different and make different decisions and all of our worlds are different, but we're the same people at the heart of it.'

'I think ye might be right,' Aster said, and kissed Jack. 'But for now, let's just focus on being us. What happened next?'

'I woke up in a bed in the hospital,' Jack said. 'I'd been unconscious for two days. When I asked for you, no one would answer me.'

'I'm so sorry, me love,' Aster murmured, laying his ears flat.

'You promised me you'd be fine if something happened to me,' Jack said, sitting back and glaring. 'You _promised_.'

'And what did ye do when you heard I'd – well, become a tree?' Aster asked.

Jack flushed a bit. 'Uh,' he managed, and looked away. 'I kind of – laid in bed for two and a half weeks. I didn't talk. Emma wanted me to come with her, but I – I couldn't.'

'And then ye snuck out at midnight and came to see me anyway,' Aster said. 'Might be that neither of us had the healthiest reaction.'

'Yeah, okay,' Jack admitted. 'But yours was worse.'

'Agree to disagree, Snowbird,' Aster advised.

Jack rolled his eyes, but subsided.

The next day, Aster was finally free from the hospital, despite the fact that nothing had been wrong with him in the first place, and he made his way slowly back towards his farm. It took far longer than it usually would, because he walked, keeping an eye out for the black spots that were all that was left of Pitch and fixing them with a judicious shot of earthblood. Jack came with him, and he was always in contact, his hand on Aster's elbow or shoulder or back. The earthblood was no effort whatsoever to use, and even without it, he could hear the trees.

He knew these trees now, knew them by their roots and by their branches and by their _voices_ , and they spoke to him as if nothing had changed, as if he was still the new rooted in the system. Hello, they called as he passed, and brushed him gently with their branches with leaves or with needles. Thank you. Earth-waker. Seedling. Brother.

He was so distracted by the effortless hearing that he didn't notice the tree until they broke free of the treeline, and then he stopped abruptly, staring.

Jack hadn't been kidding about the size at all; it was hundreds of metres tall, and as wide around as two of the town halls placed side by side. He had no idea how he'd not seen it from the town. It must be visible from every point in the valley.

'What did I tell you?' Jack asked, grinning.

The bark was straight and rough, running vertically up the massive trunk, and the needles of the tree were a deep blue-green against the reddish-brown bark. Low on the trunk, he could see the gash where he'd been released from the tree, because the red-tinged wood was bare to the eye, leading down to a circuitous tangle of roots that formed a sort of natural staircase. It was a miracle he'd not broken his neck on the way down.

'A redwood tree,' Aster whispered, the knowledge as certain in his mind as his own name and his love for Jack. 'I was a redwood tree. But sequoia – they've been extinct since...'

'It's very impressive,' Jack agreed. 'And, I think it'll make a lovely house.'

Aster huffed and reached out with his senses. The tree was still alive, but had only the barest of intelligences; it was like a seed, he realised. In his absence, the tree had begun to live on its own, and the mind that he could feel there was not entirely tree-like, but neither was it human. It was something in between.

'It's sort of like a – like an animal, maybe, a young one,' Aster said. 'A few days old. It'll grow, and live, but it isn't me.' He shuddered. 'That'dve been a right mess.'

'Do you think it will mind us living there?' Jack asked. Aster looked at him and smiled.

'It's like grafting trees into windbreaker walls, I reckon,' he said. 'It's just training, and teaching it to take a new shape.'

'Huh,' Jack said, looking at it critically.

Aster chuckled a bit, and then said, 'Don't take this the wrong way, mate, but I reckon I made a pretty handsome tree, meself.'

'As long as you can still be my stupidly handsome Aster,' Jack replied, shifting his hand down to Aster's paw, 'I'm okay with that. Even if you sound full of yourself.'

Aster rolled his eyes. 'We should take a closer look, love, and make plans.'

'Sounds fantastic. Just – hold on a second, okay?'

Aster turned to him, frowning. 'What?'

Jack kissed him, mouth firm and sweet against Aster's, for a long moment. It wasn't a kiss of passion, or fondness, or farewell; it felt, strangely, like a hello.

'Okay, now we can get to work,' Jack said, pulling away, and Aster smiled.

  
  


'You're building in the tree?'

Aster nodded at Tooth's confused look. 'Jack's idea,' he said. 'Thought it was brilliant, meself.'

'But – that tree was _you_ ,' she pointed out.

'Sort of. Reckon I was just inside it.'

'But you remember being the tree?'

'Don't make it weird, Tooth,' Jack called over, carrying a bag over his shoulder.

Tooth spluttered a bit. 'I'm not 'making it weird', I'm just curious!'

'It's going to be so cool when Bunny and I are done with it, you have no idea,' Jack said, grinning now. 'Apparently the tree's still alive –'

'Wait, _are you still the tree_?!'

Aster couldn't help it. He began laughing, so hard that he couldn't breathe, just great rolling mirth that started in his soul and spilled upwards out his mouth.

Jack was laughing too, and Tooth looked confused, and Baby Tooth was peering around the door at them, and it was just perfect, this precise moment in his life where everything and everyone was alive, and they'd succeeded. There were so many unanswered questions still, so many things Aster still wanted to understand, about his friends and their histories, the dreams they'd all experienced, who everyone was and who they were now, but the most important thing was that now he had all the time in the world to find out.

Triumph was a sweet taste in his mouth as he straightened, and smiled at Tooth.

'Not at all,' he said. 'I'm just E. Aster Bunnymund. Happy to be.'

Tooth smiled back at him, a great fondness in her. 'Go on, you two, get,' she said, waving her hands. 'You've got a lot of work to do.'

'Reckon,' Aster agreed. 'Talk to ye soon.'

'Out of my hospital,' she commanded. Aster went, chuckling.

Nick was waiting for them outside, loading supplies and tools into a cart. Jack went immediately to the horse intended to pull it, cooing a bit and patting her nose; Aster watched him, smiling, until Nick patted him on the shoulder.

'I hear there is to be wedding soon?' he said under his breath, which meant only half of the people on the street heard it, rather than all.

'Not for a while yet, mate,' Aster replied. 'When he's ready, and when I am. Until then –' he shrugged. 'We've still gotta learn how we fit. Lot of stuff's happened, and we're not the precise same people we were only a few weeks past. Ye know that he's got a lot of grief to work through, and so do I.'

'But you are both alive,' Nick said, frowning.

'Doesn't change that we thought the other was dead,' Aster pointed out. 'And his dam's gone. I'm still reeling from all this mess.'

'So, no wedding?' Nick asked, hilariously disappointed expression on his face.

'Give us two years, maybe. Gives ye time to plan, and for Jack to say no to yer plans, and time for us to figure us out.'

'You are wise, Bunny,' Nick said, smiling now. 'I said it before you left, and I will say it again. Evergreen and Helena would be proud of you.'

'Well, thank ye,' Aster muttered, going a little red. 'I'd like to think so.'

'I know so,' Nick boomed, clapping his hand on Aster's shoulder. 'You, come visit Emma and I any time, you hear? We will always have open doors.'

'I still wish I could come,' Emma said as she walked over from Theold's, carrying two buckets of iron fittings and a tall pole in one hand without any effort. 'But Grandfather's right, you two will be all gross and kissing all the time, and I don't want to see that.'

'Someday, Em,' Jack said, floating over, having befriended the horse in record time, 'you might meet someone who you want to kiss all time and be gross with, and if you do, I'm never going to let you live it down.'

Emma looked at him, frowning. 'Might?'

'Sometimes you don't want that,' Jack shrugged. 'If you don't, then don't worry. I'll tease you for something else.'

'You're such a jerk, Jack,' she said, and shoved him. He let the shove send him cartwheeling over the cart, laughing like a loon. 'See if I tell you anything, ever.'

Jack popped back up, eyes gone comedically wide. 'Oh man, don't tell me you already do,' he said, sounding genuinely horrified. 'Aster, no, talk her out of it –'

'Talk her out of what?' Aster asked, playing at being mystified.

'You know what? Don't bother trying, you don't notice anything,' Jack snorted. 'Emma, just no. Wait until you're like, forty, don't make me have to kick someone's ass –'

'You're twenty!' she said, putting her hands on her hips. 'And whose ass could you kick that I couldn't?'

Jack nodded in acknowledgement while North scowled. 'Watch your mouth, young lady,' he said.

'Jack doesn't!'

'Jack is adult, and can make fool of himself if he wishes,' North said.

'Rude,' Jack said. 'And it's the principle of the thing, Em.'

'Well, you can take your principle and –'

'Emma Frost!'

Aster laughed again, and all three of them looked at him, glaring. He laughed a little harder.

Emma gave up and laughed, too, but Nick and Jack began to argue about who, precisely, was the fool between the two of them. Aster smiled at her.

'Ye're always welcome to visit, Em,' he said, reaching out and ruffling her hair a bit. 'But I think the town will be better for ye. More people for ye to get to know, and more things for ye to do.'

'I know,' she said. 'But I'm going to miss you.'

'Jack'll be around,' Aster said bracingly. 'He's still the messenger in these parts, unless ye're planning on helping out there?'

'I might,' she shrugged, 'but I'll miss you, too.'

Aster blinked. 'Me?'

'Yes, you,' she said, and poked him with a finger. 'You're my big brother now, too. So you need to stop by more often than everyone says you usually do, or I'm going to get mad and throw you in the river.'

Aster laughed, and hugged her. She hugged back, her strength tight around him, and Aster didn't know what he'd do with a little sister, precisely, but he was looking forward to finding out. 'Ye take care of Nick, Em,' he said quietly. 'He won't say, but he gets lonely.'

'So does Jack,' she said back in the same tone. 'You take care of him. He came for me. He deserves to be happy.'

'Ye and I can agree on that, always,' Aster said, and kissed the top of her head. 'Be good.'

'I will,' she said, and stepped back. 'Okay, you two can go now.'

'What, no hug for me?' Jack said, folding his arms and mock-frowning. 'For shame, Emma –'

Emma ran to him, jumping up, and Jack caught her midair, spinning her until she was laughing breathlessly. 'I'll see you soon,' he said quietly, but Aster could hear him; Aster was pretty sure he'd always be able to pick out Jack's voice, no matter how quiet. 'Couple of days at most.'

'Bring Bunny with you,' she murmured back. 'He's more fun to pick on than you.'

Aster rolled his eyes, but held his tongue; the bad came with the good, after all.

'You got it, Em,' Jack said, then, a little louder, 'And don't harass Sandy too much, okay? He's still horrified that we almost lost his map. I'm not sure we can make enough chocolate to make up for it if you broke one of his books.'

'But he has a _library_ , Jack!' Emma said, and was set back on the ground. 'Padma and I go reading whenever she has the free time. Mr. Sandy is great, and tells good stories. He said he likes having me around!'

'Then at least help him out,' Jack said, and fiddled with her braid. 'And don't give North as hard a time as I did.'

'That'll be easy,' she said, and Jack stuck out his tongue at her.

'Ready to go, love?' Aster asked, stepping up.

'Yeah,' Jack said, smiling as he hovered down to eye level. 'Gotta get moving if we want to have a place to sleep tonight.'

'Then we're off. See ye soon, Nick.'

'Goodbye, you two,' Nick said, and took Emma's hand. 'Come along, Emma. Sandy says he has books in Espautl he is wanting you to look at for him.'

Emma lit up and almost dragged North off, leaving Jack and Aster chuckling as they began to guide the placid horse out of the town.

'You really think she'll be okay in the town?' Jack asked abruptly.

They were at the creek, and Aster was leading the horse over the bridge; he looked at Jack. 'Ye try and keep her away from the library,' he said dryly, and Jack laughed.

'Okay, yeah,' he said. 'Never thought she'd be such a bookworm.'

'People like what they like,' Aster shrugged, patting the horse's side gently. 'Bet ye anything Katherine's going to try and take her travelling when she's older.'

'Katherine 2.0, god,' Jack said, shaking his head. 'That's a scary thought.'

'I don't think she's going to go much for the whole travelling thingo,' Aster mused. Through the branches of the trees and the thick green foliage, he could see the redwood, and he smiled a bit. 'Probably had enough of that for a lifetime. I know I have.'

'Really?' Jack asked, floating over beside Aster. 'I thought maybe someday we could go back to Cirrus. Visit Kivi and Todavía. Actually enjoy the journey.'

'Maybe,' Aster mused. 'Might do some good on the way, fix some of Pitch's work. Not for years, though. I'm not too keen to leave me farm. She's going to need a lot of work to get in order by next year.'

'You'll get it right,' Jack said confidently, and kissed the edge of Aster's ear. 'You always do.'

  
  


It took three days to remove all of the dead wood from the redwood. It was more extensive than it looked like from the outside, and Aster did most of the removal, since he could tell where the wood began to live again. Jack proved to be a fair hand with most of the carpentry tools, and so he sorted the wood into pieces they could use for building and pieces they would use for furniture.

The sun was warm overhead, but it was a cool late June that moved into a balmy July, and there was no rain. Normally Aster would have to worry about the gardens, and haul water to keep them hydrated; now he was grateful for the extended dry spell. It meant he didn't have to rush the work to keep the wood from rotting, and could just enjoy the labour of it.

They slept in the cart on bedrolls until the tree was hollowed out, and fell asleep exhausted but proud each night. The horse was delighted with the grasses and flowers that grew everywhere, and Jack about had a fit laughing when Aster told him that all of the flowers growing now were snowdrops and asters.

'You romantic, you,' Jack had finally gasped out, making Aster's ears go red.

Aster spent one full day doing nothing but speaking to the tree, making it understand what he was doing and what he wanted; to his surprise, the tree remembered him, albeit as some kind of owner/master/caretaker rather than as itself, and was delighted to understand that Aster was returning to live there. The communication was rudimentary, consisting mainly of pictures and sensation speak, but it was emphatically happy to have him back. Aster could tell that it would grow to be as conscious as the other trees, if not more so, and was sort of happy himself, that this tree he'd grown with his desperation and love was going to be something he could care for.

It also remembered Jack, and would shower him with needles whenever he took a seat in the branches.

'Aster, I think your tree's in love with me,' Jack called down one afternoon, as Aster explained to the tree the concept of windows and why growing holes in its sides would be good.

'It's got great taste, then,' Aster called back, and Jack laughed so hard that he fell off his branch.

He also explained the concept of privacy, which was harder to explain, and privately planned to place the bedrooms in the centre of the space, farthest from the living wood.

Jack came back from town with a full roll of thick cotton, and dropped it on Aster's lap. 'Watch this for me,' he commanded, before flying off for a few hours. When he returned, he was carrying an absolutely ridiculous amount of cattail heads, where the fluff was, and grinned at Aster. 'I want to sleep on a mattress at some point this week, so get to work,' he said, and Aster rolled his eyes.

The house was built and was grown piece by piece, until it had four different floors and a complex network of hallways wide enough that Jack could fly and tall enough that Aster didn't need to stoop. They finagled a system of flues and Aster grew a hole for them to thread a chimney through. They traded some of the redwood boards for glass, and spent an afternoon cursing as they tried to make windows out of it before Jack just gave up and made windows from clear ice. He had to touch them up every morning, but Aster liked the fresh patterns of frost he would leave behind, the way little ferns and curls would collect in the corners, even if the tree complained bitterly for the first week.

Aster sewed a mattress with thick thread and stuffed it with the soft cattail fluff, and Jack slept on it for twenty hours straight.

Jack searched through the old house for things worth salvaging, and Aster cried when he was presented with his dam's ceramic teapot and his sire's blackened but still sturdy couch frame.

Jack found out Aster could paint, and then harangued him about growing plants for dyes next year, so he could have pigments and Jack could dye his yarn.

July turned to August, and Katherine and Nightlight returned; the tree that they found was not the same one they'd left. Aster had used the left over wood to build a wall fitted to the gash, save for a door in the front, and had filed down the ragged, dead edges until they were smooth. The windows dotted the trunk irregularly, and at night they glowed from the lantern light.

'Wow,' Katherine said, lost for words for the first time in her life, and Nightlight just smiled benignly.

  
  


_'I'm sorry it took me so long,' Other Aster said, ears drooping. 'I wasn't – I wasn't sure I could face ye. Face meself.'_

_Aster sat at the table once more, and shrugged. 'I did what ye asked,' he said. 'To be honest, didn't expect to hear from ye again.'_

_'Ye might not,' Other Aster said. 'Yer part is done.'_

_'Can ye tell me why ye interfered? The full reason?' Aster asked, and made himself comfortable. 'Take as long as ye need.'_

_'It's not a very long story,' Other Aster replied, and sat as well. He waved a hand, and a cup of tea appeared before both him and Aster. Aster took a sip; it was goldenrod tea, with a subtle infusion of peppermint. 'What it comes down to is, we're fighting Pitch here too.'_

_'I'm sorry,' Aster said, and meant it._

_'Don't be. Every single one of ye, and every one of me, have been doing it a long time. It's not a battle likely to be finished for yonks. I'll be surprised if I get within cooee of seeing the end meself before I cark it. If I can cark it.'_

_'So why were ye interfering with our fight, then, if ye've got yer own to take care of?'_

_Other Aster gulped at his tea briefly. 'It's like this, Aster,' he said. 'Every story can affect other stories. It's how they work. But yer story is a lot closer to the heart of the struggle than just about any other one other than mine. If Pitch won in yer story, it would make it easier for him to win in every other story. It might have even been a killing blow.'_

_'And because we won,' Aster said slowly, 'it's going to be harder for him to win elsewhere?'_

_'Exactly,' Other Aster nodded. 'Ye might have just made sure our side can win once and for all. Pitch's problem is that he thinks fear needs to exist.'_

_'It does, though,' Aster said, and held up a paw as Other Aster opened his mouth hotly. 'No, hear me out.'_

_Other Aster rolled his eyes, but nursed his tea._

_'We need to be scared of things sometimes, because otherwise we could get badly hurt,' Aster explained. 'But fear can poison us. It's about that balance, I think. And I think ye think so, too.'_

_'Aye,' Other Aster sighed. 'But Pitch – he's the bad kind of fear. Ye have to understand something about us, Aster. In yer story, ye're human, even if ye don't look it.'_

_'Ye're not?' Aster asked, startled._

_'I'm a Pooka,' Other Aster explained. 'The last one. And Pitch is the reason why there aren't any others. He wasn't always Pitch Black. But the Fear infected him, and now he's the personification of it. If we can defeat him once and for all, then either we can make him become the good kind of fear, or we can replace him with someone who isn't – well.'_

_'A mass-murderer?' Aster said, ears twitching as he remembered the way Pitch had listed off the names of cities like they were now trophies and not graveyards._

_'That,' Other Aster agreed, huffing a bit with laughter. 'So I wanted –'_

_Behind Other Aster was a door; Aster had never really noticed it, other than to note it as part of the background scenery. But now, there was a knock, rapid and cheerful, and Other Aster jerked in surprise._

_'Let us in, Bunny!' called a voice that was at both familiar and very alien._

_'Frost, don't start with me!' Other Aster yelled back._

_'Come on, I brought Jack with me!'_

_'That is a crook idea! Go back!'_

_'You say all my ideas are terrible anyway, can't we just go through with one of them?'_

_Aster started laughing, and through the door, he could hear Jack – his Jack, wonder of wonders – laughing back._

_'Oh, it's all ruined now anyway,' Other Aster huffed. 'Come in, ye mongrel.'_

_'That was uncalled for,' Other Jack said, opening the door._

_It was like looking at a pair of brothers who had been separated at birth and raised in opposite parts of the world; the Other Jack was shorter than his Jack by a few inches, and thin as a rail. Aster had always thought his Jack was a scrawny sort, but this Jack looked like he could be tossed about by a stiff breeze. He wore a smooth version of Jack's sweater from Tooth, and the snowflake patterns glistened, made from real ice. More importantly, he looked inexplicably older, his count of years more than Aster could understand on such a young face._

_His own Jack, shining, living Jack with warmth in his eyes and snow at his fingers, floated over to Aster, grinning. 'Talked him into it,' he said smugly, and Aster laughed again. 'He wanted to come, anyway. Wanted to meet you.'_

_'Well, I'm just happy to see ye,' Aster replied. 'When we wake up, though, if ye don't remember this, I'm assuming I've at last gone troppo. I expect ye'll take care of the farm in me convalescence.'_

_'Can't hold me to a promise I can't remember,' Jack replied brightly, and kissed the corner of Aster's mouth._

_'Wow, you weren't kidding,' Other Jack said, sounding surprised. Aster and Jack looked over at the same time to see Other Jack watching a little wistfully. 'How'd you manage that?'_

_'What?' Other Aster said, staring at Other Jack, who flushed a strange blue colour._

_'I'm just teasing, god, Bunny, don't get your robes in a bunch,' Other Jack said hastily._

_'We talked about our feelings like adults,' Aster replied helpfully, and Jack laughed against his cheek when Other Aster began to sputter and Other Jack turned steadily more blue. 'Being honest works best, in me opinion.'_

_He shot a grin at Jack, who grinned back. 'Or get your Aster really tired,' he said to Other Jack. 'Mine says really sweet things when exhausted.'_

_'I didn't remember half of them,' Aster argued, frowning now._

_'You still said them!' Jack sang at him, and Aster elbowed him._

_'Well, at least I know we'd still fight,' Other Aster said, sounding annoyed, and now it was Other Jack who was staring. Other Aster seemed to realise what he'd said, because his ears flattened in embarrassment._

_'Of course we would,' Other Jack said slowly, and he was starting to grin. 'Still would be us, wouldn't we?'_

_'Don't ye start,' Other Aster huffed._

_'Something tells me we were this bad,' Jack muttered._

_'Oh, probably worse,' Aster agreed._

_'Nah, apparently Other Jack's been like this for the past eighty years,' Jack said airily, and a few feet away Other Aster began to choke. 'Told me himself.'_

_'Other Aster's not much for talking about himself,' Aster said. 'Can't tell ye who that reminds me of, though.'_

_'Are you saying I talk about myself too much?'_

_'Said no such thing, Snowbird,' Aster replied, elbowing him again. 'If the shoe fits, though.'_

_'See, don't expect the honeymoon phase to last too long,' Jack said to Other Jack, who was still a lovely blue colour in the face. ''Might as well get started now.'_

_'No time like the present,' Aster added._

_Other Aster was so red the white fur around his neck was starting to look a little pink. 'How about ye two belt up about bizzo that isn't yers,' he snapped._

_'I dunno,' Jack said, and sounded strangely serious for a moment. 'I'm pretty sure I have a vested interest in making sure Aster is happy. And if you're him, even distantly, than who am I to stand in the way of true love?'_

_Aster felt warm, and tugged Jack closer. Other Aster was sputtering again._

_'Look,' Aster said, 'if ye don't say something, he'll trick ye into saying it, and then ye'll never live it down, if yer lots' Tooth is anything like ours.'_

_'There's nothing to say!' Other Aster spat out at last, and Other Jack flinched._

_'Ow, Bunny,' he said, trying to sound lighthearted and only half-succeeding. 'And here I was hoping for a full confession of love, bended knee, all the works.' Then his eyes glinted in a way that was deadly familiar, and Aster sighed very quietly to himself._

_'Here we go,' he muttered to Jack, who was grinning like the sun._

_'Of course, I shouldn't expect something like that from you,' Other Jack was saying loftily. 'Not sure you're capable of that.'_

_Now Other Aster rounded on him, still frustrated. 'Are ye saying I'm not capable of being romantic?' he demanded._

_'Can't say I've ever seen any proof otherwise,' Other Jack mused, tapping his chin. 'You spend so much of your time being a prick, I guess you just don't have it in you.'_

_Jack muffled his laughter in Aster's shoulder._

_'I didn't just want to spit it out in the middle of everything!' Other Aster exclaimed, throwing his paws in the air. 'Like that would have gone well! We've been flat out for weeks, ye know that, I haven't had the_ time _to say anything, much less make it worth hearing!'_

_'So you_ do _have something to say, Bunny?' Other Jack asked slyly, and Other Aster froze._

_'Think that's our cue to leave, Snowbird,' Aster said, hooking his arm around Jack's waist. 'Ye should have just taken me advice, mate. It's too late now.'_

_'No, wait,' Jack protested, his voice hushed but gleeful. 'I want to watch, this is way better than ours.'_

_'I – I –' Other Aster stuttered, then he scowled. 'Don't ye start with me, Frost, don't think I haven't noticed how ye've been acting –'_

_'The difference was I didn't pretend to be subtle,' Other Jack shot back. 'Are you going to say it or not?'_

_'What do ye want me to say, ye brilliant mug?'_

_'You could start with admitting you like me at all!'_

_'Like ye?' Other Aster repeated, dumbfounded. 'Ye thought I didn't_ like _ye? Frost, I've been all but cracking onto ye for years! Ye drive me mad! And ye thought I didn't_ like ye _?'_

_Other Jack was smiling now, and Aster felt like smiling himself; even if it wasn't his Jack, exactly, it was a wonderful thing to know that other versions of him could make other versions of Jack happy._

_'I'm gonna need a translation,' Other Jack said, and shot a wink at Jack and Aster. 'Any input from the peanut gallery?'_

_'Was I not clear?' Other Aster shouted. 'I love ye, ye ratbag! Do ye need a translation for that, too?!'_

_'There we go,' Other Jack said, visibly self-satisfied. 'That's what I was looking for.'_

_'Okay,' Jack said to Aster as Other Jack darted forward. 'Now we can go.'_

_The dream began to fade out, and Aster went willingly into the sleep's depths, Jack's dream arms and real arms in precisely the same places._

  
  


Aster awoke, and for a moment, didn't think he was awake at all; it felt the same here, on their soft mattress, Jack wrapped around him, as it'd been in his head.

Here in the centre of their home, farthest from the curious redwood's living parts, there was no window to tell him the time, but he suspected it to be very early morning. Atop him, Jack began to stir, and Aster ran his fingers through his hair.

Jack pressed into the touch and opened his eyes slowly, blinking at Aster until he was awake. 'So,' he said at last. 'Did we just set up alternate universe versions of ourselves, or am I crazy?'

Aster smiled. 'Ye're not crazy.'

'Oh, thank god,' Jack said, dropping his brow to Aster's chest. 'Finally, then. That Jack had been waiting for eighty years or so. I can't imagine being that kind of patient.'

'Neither can I,' Aster teased, and Jack swatted him.

'You, shut up. You're apparently really slow on the uptake in every universe. At least it isn't me.'

Aster nudged Jack, annoyed. 'I figured it out eventually, didn't I?'

Jack rolled his eyes. 'I think it's great, though,' he said. 'Every story, you love me.'

'Maybe not every story,' Aster replied. 'There's a lot of them, I reckon, and who knows how all of them went. But to tell ye the truth, I've had just about enough of everyone else's story. I'd like to focus on mine.'

Jack grinned at him. 'And how, Mr. E. Aster Bunnymund, do you plan to do that?'

'Well,' Aster said, mock-frowning. 'We've had this bed for two weeks now, and as I recall, I was promised ye had plans for me in this bed, Jack Frost.'

Jack's eyes flashed, a bright noon-day blue before darkening to something closer to the far side of the dawn. 'Are you telling me I've been remiss in my duties?'

'What duties?'

'Why, my husbandly duties, of course.'

'We aren't married yet, love.'

'Then I have plenty of time to practice, don't I?' Jack asked, and floated off of Aster before settling back down, straddling his waist. 'I bet it's something you won't mind practicing at.'

Aster swallowed as Jack's hands slid up his abdomen, past his chest, over his shoulders until they cradled his jaw.

'Remember,' Jack whispered, leaning near, but not near enough. 'Until you _scream_.'

'Do ye promise?' Aster returned, and Jack laughed before dropping his mouth down onto Aster's.

The kiss didn't start gently and never even got close; it was hard and fast, a little painful and entirely wonderful. Jack bit at Aster's mouth, tongue spilling inside and tangling there with Aster's, his hands lifting Aster off the bed and tugging insistently at his ears. Aster wrapped his paws up behind Jack, kneading into his shoulders, the back of his neck, and kissed back like Jack was air and he'd been drowning.

Jack rolled his hips down and Aster rose to meet him, grinding his exposed cock against Jack's clothed one and wanting so badly his chest felt tight. He wanted everything at once, wanted Jack's mouth and his hands, wanted to taste Jack on his tongue when he came and wanted to sink inside him, wanted Jack to do the same to him. He wanted the last more badly than he'd thought he might, and he pushed at Jack, rolling them over on the wide mattress and shifting so that now he was straddling Jack instead of the other way around, his cock resting on Jack's stomach and his legs wide.

'Oh, god, don't do that,' Jack breathed, 'don't _look_ at me like that, you have no idea you're doing it, do you?'

'Doing what?' Aster asked testily, pulling at Jack's shirt, wanted to see, wanting to know Jack's body like it was his own.

'You look at me like – like I'm the sun, and you're a tree again, maybe,' Jack babbled, lifting his arms when Aster pulled it over his head. 'Or like – I don't even know, the moon on water, a cup of tea after a storm, everything, like I'm everything –'

'Ye are,' Aster replied, kissing Jack silent as he fumbled with Jack's sleep pants. 'From now on, no more clothes in bed,' he said, pulling away again when the knot proved too much for him without his sight.

'You got it, sweetheart,' Jack gasped, lifting his hips when Aster finally got the knot loose, letting his paws slide them down and off. 'Whatever you want, god –'

'I want ye to keep yer promise,' Aster replied. 'Ye said ye would fuck me until I screamed, and that's what I want, Jack, that's what I want –'

Jack groaned, pressing up with bare skin, and god, but he was beautiful. Pale skin with paler scars here and there, white hair splayed over Aster's pillow, blue eyes nearly black and hands clutching at Aster's arm.

'I don't – fuck, I didn't think ahead,' Jack cursed. 'I don't have anything in here to use as lube, fuck –'

'Would oil work? I have some in me bandoleer for the plants –'

'That'll be perfect,' Jack said, already leaning off to Aster's side of the bed, fishing around for the abandoned piece of leather. 'Which pocket?'

'Second from the right – wait, no, the left, sorry Snowbird –'

'Don't you dare be sorry, not yet. I'm going to _wreck_ you.'

'Promises, promises,' Aster said, and Jack shoved him back over, rolling on to his chest and back between his legs.

'Hand me that pillow, you asshole.'

'And ye called me a sweet talker, love,' Aster said dryly, and Jack laughed at him. He spilled what Aster thought might be an excessive amount of oil over his fingers, then ran a wet finger down the length of Aster's cock, circling his nearly hidden balls, rubbing against his sheath.

Aster lost his words, spreading his legs and lifting his hips into the touch. Jack shoved the pillow beneath Aster's hips with his free hand, and laughed again.

'God, I remember when you couldn't even kiss me without going red, and look at you now, Aster. Fuck. Just – fuck.'

'That's the idea, Snowbird,' Aster gasped out, because Jack had chosen that moment to breach him with one slick finger, and the sensation was strange.

'Do you think Other Aster and Other Jack are doing this right now?' Jack asked, pressing slowly further inside, his hand cool but warming up.

'Can we not talk about that?' Aster asked, caught up in the difficult decision to press further onto Jack's finger or squirm away.

'Just curious,' Jack said cheerfully, sliding the finger out a bit and pressing back in. Aster decided to try bearing down, and Jack sucked in a breath as Aster arched.

'What did I say,' he said, and added a second finger to the first. 'Nothing by half, sweetheart.'

'Anything worth doing is worth doing right, me love,' Aster replied, panting, making Jack laugh.

In and out, sliding and slipping and curling in; Aster fucked down on Jack's fingers, the sensation new and so satisfying he had to groan with it, unable to not make noise at how lovely it felt. Jack slid a third in with the others, and rubbed up against a spot that had Aster gripping the mattress and thinking he'd already come.

'Aster, I can't wait much longer,' Jack murmured, entranced.

'Don't know why ye've waited so long,' Aster said, and groaned again when Jack slid his fingers free, only this time it was in loss. 'Put those back, ye dill.'

'Got something better,' Jack replied, kissing Aster's mouth. He was kneeling between Aster's knees, his cock a brilliant red against his pale skin, and he took it in hand, slicking it with the oil and tossing his head back. Aster watched, because he couldn't not, not with how lovely a picture Jack was making, hand gripped around his own cock and stroking. 'Okay, okay,' Jack gasped. 'Just – don't move too much, it's gonna feel weird at first.'

'I trust ye,' Aster replied, and Jack gave him a fond look.

'I'm going to make this so fucking good for you, Aster, you have no idea,' he whispered, and holding his cock in his hand, he began to push inside Aster.

He was right. It felt strange, too thick, opening him too wide, and Aster spread his legs further apart, trying to accommodate the sensation. The motion made Jack sink in faster, and the strangeness grew stronger, but there was – something. The fullness was beginning to feel less weird and more satisfying, like there was a hollow place in Aster that was being filled, and when Jack's cock slid past the spot he'd been playing with, Aster jerked his hips up, meeting Jack's hipbones with his own.

'Oh, fuck, Aster,' Jack gasped, stilling, his eyes falling closed. 'I – oh, god, it's never felt like this –'

'Jack,' Aster groaned, because Jack's cock was pressed to the spot now, unmoving pressure, and that wasn't acceptable. 'Jack, please, ye have to move.'

Jack's hips stuttered out of his control, back a bit and grinding in, and Aster's knees came up, hooking around the notch of Jack's hips. Aster tossed his head back and rolled up, because it was so good, so fantastic feeling, warm and wet and precisely where he wanted it, and it still wasn't enough –

Jack's hands fell to Aster's shoulders and he looked like he was struggling to hold still, something that Aster very much wanted him to stop doing. 'Aster, I –'

Aster rolled them on instinct, Jack's hips trapped between his thighs, and Jack yelped in surprise as he was pressed to the bed. The movement knocked him deeper in, and Aster groaned, louder and deeper than he'd ever felt his voice go, and he rocked back onto Jack's cock singlemindedly. Jack whined in the back of his throat and braced his feet on the bed, thrusting up.

Aster realised he was speaking, words coming out of his mouth without his permission – or, rather, one word over and over again, Jack's name in a rising and falling crescendo, growing louder with each repetition.

'Aster,' Jack whispered, 'Aster, I can't –'

His slim hand gripped Aster's cock just as Aster found the perfect angle, and Aster's mind whited out, his body moving on autopilot as he fucked down on Jack. Jack's hand moved and the white went grey, his body unable to handle so intense an orgasm on the heels of the first, and Jack's hand wouldn't _stop moving_ , god, Aster didn't know if he could take another like the first two, he felt like his heart was going to burst –

He heard himself shout – _scream_ – Jack's name as his hand wrung an almost impossibly bright third orgasm from Aster's body, and for a split moment, Aster thought he felt the world hold still. Jack answered the scream with one of his own, a howl of Aster's name as warm heat spilled inside him and filled up that hollow space at last, and Aster dropped back down to earth, collapsing atop Jack's panting body.

They breathed together, trembling, for a long moment, and then Jack asked, sounding nervous, 'What the fuck just happened?'

'I have no idea,' Aster panted, 'but as soon as I can, we're doing it all over. I want to see if ye can make me scream again.'

'When I said I was going to wreck you,' Jack replied weakly, 'I didn't think you'd try to beat me at it. It wasn't a challenge, sweetheart.'

'With ye? Always a challenge,' Aster said, kissing Jack's mouth. 'And it's yer turn to get something to clean us up with, because I don't think I can walk after that.'

Jack laughed, breathless, and kissed Aster back, and Aster felt that even if their story was nowhere near done, he was pretty happy with this moment.

He couldn't wait to see where it would go next.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May I briefly say, thank you to you all who have read, commented, kudos'd, and all sorts of other things. I adore you all, and I can't wait to see you back here for the next part of the journey in the 'It Tolls For Thee' series.
> 
> ...oh, didn't I mention it was a series? Whoops. :)
> 
> See Chapter 28 for some bonus material, like my original notes for this story, and a playlist for you to cry your hearts out to. Hugs and kisses, loves!


	28. Bonus Material

Hello, and welcome to the Bonus Material part of Postapocalyptica! Here, we have some lovely things for all of you who read, cheerled, and showed your support throughout the journey.

 

**I. Playlist**

Postapocalyptica's playlist is hosted at 8tracks  _here_ :

 

http://8tracks.com/proser132/postapocalyptica-soundtrack

 

In the event that playlist goes down for some reason, I'll host it elsewhere, but it should remain there for the foreseeable future.

 

 

**II. PA Notes**

a.k.a., why proser shouldn't write notes for anything

 

Prompt work:

bunny is a farmer for post-TEOTW township (3rd gen., 30; superspeed and plant growth; canonical appearance), his parents are gone, presumed dead  
jack is a messenger/firefighter when the occasion calls for it (late 3rd gen., 20; windspeak, water/ice generation, flight, c. app.)  
tooth is a doctor (early 2nd gen., 54; touch empathy/telepathy (select), flight, c. app.)  
baby tooth is her daughter, and a nurse (late 3rd gen., 14; touch empathy/telepathy (nonselect), flight, mute, c. app.)  
north is the mayor/jack's grandfather (early 2nd gen., 68; ice manip., strength, c. app.)  
sandy is a librarian/archivist (1sr gen., 96; sand manip., light manip., sleep induction, near c. app.)  
katherine (very late 3rd gen, 44, language, visible words)  
nightlight (late 3rd gen, 46, flight, light generation)  
ombric (early 2nd gen, 74, illusion and light generation)

Main events (in broad strokes of the brush):

Pitch (crazy powerful mutt w./ shadow manip., fire generation, and fear induction, 73) begins to wipe out entire towns in n. america  
small gangs begin to raid Riverfield more often, causing supply shortages and fear of animutts  
fires take out Aster's farm (unsure rn. if arson or not, will keep posted)  
katherine arrives (44, flight, animal speak, visible words) with more info about chough's landing  
Mt. Sheafer destroyed, ombric and other survivors come to riverfield  
pitch is fuhlipping named at fucking last  
possible road trip: wildfires are sweeping up and down the west coast with its thick dead forests, unnatural ones that defy water and burn merrily on. they're sweeping down towards Aztlan, where jack's family moved to. jack insists on going to retrieve them, and aster insists on going with him. Might not do this, might be too out of the way, too ridiculous, but I think it could intersect with the pitch plot point really neatly – like, it could point out aster's existence to pitch, make him realise riverfield is the home of everyone he's been looking for.  
yeah so that aztlan thing is happening whoops  
aster invites jack's family to stay with them, because they escaped the destruction of the settlement in aztlan and are kind of terrified of how many people are in the town and how everyone hovers over them and just aster gets that 100%  
seriously jack is going to marry this fucker and there's nothing aster can do about it he has such designs on bunny it's not even funny  
When the farm catches fire, aster is forced to choose between saving the home he built with his parents and the farm that sustains riverfield  
ahahahaha literally nothing's working the way I want it to (seeing as jack's mom is dead whoops)  
anyway on the way home is the confrontation with the raiders at the lake near Riverfield, and that's where Jack reveals he's been kind of hoarding Aster's mom's needles because he's terrified they might lose them (pfft what a big baby) so big fight scene, double whoops  
and the choice isn't between the farm and the house, it's the farm and the town which is no choice at all just big giant fucking balls because Aster doesn't deserve this bullshit  
ALSO I COMPLETELY FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT THE TEASER THAT ASTER'S NEARLY KILLED HIMSELF PULLING UP THE EARTHBLOOD BEFORE FUCK okay yeah so the final showdown's literally going to fuck him up so badly baaaaaaaaaallls

**not necessarily in order**

 

 

 

_**and the maths:** _

__

Total Distance: 3100 m, 4989 clicks

**Day 1:**  
Started at noon  
1:30 - 30 clicks, @ western pass  
went slow  
4:00 - 195 km, near the lake  
4:20 - 18 km  
4:25 - 4 km  
8:20 - 260 km  
Total: 507 km, 315 m  
Hours: 6 hrs, 50 minutes (7 hours)  
 **Day 2:**  
Started at dawn (5:30)  
8:30 - 217 km (135 m)  
1:30 - 200 km  
1:55 - 27 km  
Total: 444 km, 275 m  
Hours: 5 hours, 25 minutes (5 & half)  
 **Day 3:** No travel  
 **Day 4:**  
Started at midnight  
5:30 - 241 km  
Total: 241 km, 150 m  
Hours: 5 hours, 30 minutes  
 **Day 5:**  
Started at noon  
8:30: 553 km  
Total: 553 km, 344 m  
Hours: 8 hours, 30 minutes  
 **Day 6:**  
Started at dawn (5:30)  
3:00 - 617 km  
3:30 - 58 km  
4:00 - 32 km  
Total: 707 km, 439 m.  
Hours: 10 hours, 30 minutes  
 **Day 7:**  
Started at noon  
8:30 - 553 km  
Total: 553 km, 343 m.  
Hours: 8 hours, 30 minutes  
 **Day 8:**  
Started at dawn (5:30)  
12:00 - 423 km  
started again at 1:00  
8:40: - 498 km  
Total: 921 km, 572 m,  
Hours: 14 hours  
 **Day 9:**  
Started before dawn (4:00)  
Near Aster's top speed (161 km, 100 m.)  
2:00 - 1,610 km (arrived at destination)  
At Jack's top speed (65 km, 40 m.)  
5:00 - 195 km  
8:40 - 228 km  
Total: 1,610 km, 1000 m., 423 km, 262 m. back east  
Hours: 10 hours, 6.5 hours back  
 **Day 10:**  
Started after dawn (6:00)  
8:45 - 959 km  
Total: 959 km, 596 m.  
Hours: 14.75 hours  
DFR: 3,524  
 **Day 11:**  
Started after dawn (6:00)  
8:45 - 959 km  
Total: 959 km, 596 m.   
Hours: 14.75  
DFR: 2,565  
 **Day 12:**  
Started after dawn (6:00)  
8:00 am - 113 km  
started @ 8:30  
8:45 pm - 796 km  
Total: 909 km, 565 m.  
Hours: 14.25  
DFR: 1,656  
 **Day 13** :  
Started after dawn (6:00)  
8:45 - 959 km  
Total: 959 km, 596 m.  
DFR: 697

by their reckoning: 

Day Six: 2452 km, 1523 m.  
Total Hours: 37 hours  
Day 8: 3,926 km, 2,438 m.  
Total hours: 59.5  
Day 9: 4,906 km, 3,048 m.  
Total hours: 69.5

Main Points of Interest  
Plainston: 951 km out from Riverfield  
Cirrus: 2452 km out, 1501 from Plainston  
Lake: 225 km from Riverfield

 

**III. The Preview**

Here is a little sneak peek at the next part of It Tolls For Thee, Introspection, a short story set two years after the events of Postapocalyptica.

 

_It took Aster a moment to realise where he was. He hadn't seen this table or that door in two years, after all. He hadn't thought he'd ever see them again._

_He looked down at himself; he wore his bandoleer, his bracers, even his grass-green scarf. But when he looked up again, at the chair across the table, he was still alone._

_Aster puzzled over this for a moment. He'd never arrived alone here – Other Aster had always been waiting for him. He tensed up now, fear flooding him._

_When last he'd spoken to Other Aster – a mysterious copy of him from another world, one where they, too, were fighting Pitch – it had been in farewell, a 'good on ye' that they'd succeeded. But the first time he'd spoken to Other Aster, it had been a warning of what was to come._

_Aster swallowed, hard. Was something wrong once more?_

_He stood, and knotted his scarf more securely. He wasn't going to learn anything, sitting and dithering like this. He strode forward, around the table, and turned the knob on the door._

_The hallway he entered wavered before his eyes, before solidifying. It felt – loosely familiar, and it took Aster a moment to place why. Then, his eyes widened. The shape was much the same as his childhood home, if wilder; moss and grass grew up the sides, and stones the size of boulders were set haphazardly around. Flowers grew proudly in the stone's cracks and in small patches, and Aster crouched beside one of them, reaching out to the flowers. It took a few minutes, but they began to speak at last, sounding deeply surprised to see him – he wasn't_ their _tender, no way, but he_ was _at the same time._

_'What the hell are_ you _doing here?'_

_Aster's ears twitched at the alien(familiar) voice, and stood, turning._

 

 

And that's it for Postapocalyptica! See you next time, dears!

 


End file.
